 So this conference has been framed by three types of crises, continuing crises, unexpected crises, and future crises. And what I'd like to do is talk to you about a population that can often be invisible in the context of unexpected crises. They can be overlooked, and they can fall through the grasp of preparedness and response efforts. And I also want to then talk about an initiative that has been launched over the course of the last two years and culminated earlier this year in June in a set of guidelines that focused on trying to address the gap. So the population I'm trying to talk about is migrants, or in other words, different categories of non-citizens, such as regular and irregular migrant workers of high skills and lesser skills, tourists, diplomats, business travelers, and victims of trafficking and smuggled migrants, who are affected by a crisis when the country in which they are present experiences either a conflict or a natural disaster. In June this year, at the UN in New York and in Geneva, the Migrants in Countries in Crisis Initiative launched a set of guidelines to better protect migrants caught in countries experiencing conflict or natural disaster. The initiative was co-chaired by the governments of the United States and the Philippines, and it also comprised of a range of other actors. The governments of Australia, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, and Ethiopia, the European Commission, as well as UNHCR, the International Center for Migration Policy Development, the Secretary General Special Representative on International Migration, and Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of International Migration. And the International Organization for Migration served as its secretariat and continues to do so. What these actors did was recognize that with over 244 million international migrants, most countries in the world host a migrant population. And at the same time, as we've heard throughout this conference, no country is really immune from unexpected crises. And even some of these crises, even if they can be predicted, the intensity, scale, and the geographic spread of crises cannot really be forecasted with any level of certainty. As many of you may be aware, in relation to the Libyan crisis, there were over 800,000 migrants that fled the country in just a matter of months. While most of these migrants were actually from neighboring countries, 120 odd nationalities were represented in the 800,000 odd migrants that fled the country. And then similarly in Japan, when the triple disaster struck, there were 700,000 foreigners living in the area that was affected. And again, migrants from a whole range of diverse countries, from China to Malaysia, from Brazil to Taiwan. And if you think back over the past 10 odd years, there have been a whole host of conflict and natural disaster situations in which migrants have actually been among those most seriously affected. So the 2004 tsunami saw a proportion of tourists affected. The 2006 war in Lebanon affected a whole host of migrant workers, including those working in a domestic capacity. The hurricane in the United States, Hurricane Sandy in New York, and New Jersey affected undocumented migrants. And the crisis in Yemen. And these are just a few examples. These unexpected crises can actually affect migrants differently to citizens. Migrants can present with quite unique needs and vulnerabilities that at a minimum need to be understood and taken into account in preparedness and response efforts. So if you think about language, some migrants may not necessarily have language capabilities in their host country. They may not know the local language. And this can inhibit their ability to understand information about risk and exposure to crises. It can inhibit their ability to understand how and what they need to do to access resources and assistance when a crisis actually erupts. Some migrants may have restrictions that are imposed on them as a result of their visas or their work permits. Their movements can be restricted to certain areas, or their visas may only allow them to enter the country once. And these types of restrictions can mean that migrants make adverse coping decisions, even in the face of a conflict or a natural disaster, and even at the expense of their own safety and security. Others may not actually be able to leave the crisis affected country because their identity and travel documents have been lost or destroyed. Or those documents may actually have been confiscated by their employers. And yet others, such as domestic workers who work in isolated conditions and don't have access to consular support or social networks, can often be beholden to the goodwill of their employers to escape harm. And finally, there can also be discrimination in terms of access to humanitarian assistance, even if it's not on the face of laws and policies in the way that those policies and laws are actually implemented. That said, at the same time, migrants don't just have needs and vulnerabilities. They themselves have resources, capacities, strengths, and skills that can actually be used to alleviate some of the very vulnerabilities that I've just mentioned to you. So their language capabilities, their cultural knowledge and understanding, the relationships of trust they've built with other migrant populations, and their access to irregular and isolated populations can be leveraged to better protect migrants in the context of crisis. So it was these very insights, really, that led the co-chairs in 2014 to launch the Migrants in Countries in Crisis Initiative, or the MICIC Initiative for short, and to engage in quite an extensive consultation process with multiple stakeholders, and then together develop a set of guidelines that are aimed at better protecting migrants. The consultations were held in most regions of the world, primarily with state representatives, but also with representatives of international organizations, private sector, and civil society. And in addition, dedicated consultations were held with these specific stakeholders. So consultations were held with international organizations, with private sector actors, as well as civil society, to make sure that multidimensional perspectives were incorporated into the guidelines that would ultimately be produced. So what I'd like to do with the little time that I have left is to take you through the guidelines and its main elements, and to tell you a little bit more about its scope and purpose and leave you to ask questions, but also let you know where you can actually access the relevant material. And in due course, I think Michelle will also talk a little bit about the guidelines and the process that led to their development, and how that has actually featured in the discussions at the 19th September UN General Assembly Summit. So just a little bit on the scope and purpose. These guidelines apply to situations in which migrants are already present in a country when that country experiences either a conflict or a natural disaster. It seeks to provide practical guidance to four types of stakeholders, states, international organizations, private sector actors, and civil society. The guidelines relate to actions that can be taken at the preparedness phase, at the emergency response phase, as well as in the aftermath of crises. And the expectation is that stakeholders use the guidelines to plan, prepare, and assess actions, and improve responses towards migrants, their families, and societies. So which migrants are we actually talking about? I've already foreshadowed this in my introduction, but we've defined migrants as non-citizens who are present in a country experiencing either a conflict or a natural disaster. And this is regardless of their means or their reasons of entry, regardless of their immigration status, and regardless of their length or reasons for stay. So migrants can include migrant workers and their families, can include victims of trafficking, smuggled migrants, tourists, students, business travelers, and even diplomats. Although in thinking about where you want to prioritise your responses, you'll probably focus on some of the more vulnerable categories. The term migrant doesn't refer to refugees, asylum seekers, or stateless persons. UNHCR wanted to make sure that the complementarities between the Miki Initiative guidelines and the refugee regime were taken into account in the guidelines, and so in that context, refugees, asylum seekers, and stateless persons are referred to in certain parts of the guidelines, but the term migrant doesn't actually refer to those categories of individuals. And as you may have already gathered, in terms of the crisis that we're focused on, their conflicts and natural disasters, and this was for political and pragmatic reasons that the co-chairs in the working group decided to focus on these types of crises, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the guidelines can't actually be used in other types of situations. I also just want to reiterate the stakeholders that the guidelines apply to. One of the things that we've heard during this conference, and especially in the introductory panel, was how important it is not to just focus on states as a primary actor in addressing impacts of crisis, and the guidelines recognise this. So they target states, but they also target private sector actors, international organisations, and civil society as key partners in trying to address this issue and this gap. And just a few other broad points before I move into the content. The guidelines are voluntary and non-binding, but this doesn't really take away from the fact that many areas of international law, including international human rights law, are relevant to the protection of migrants in the context of crises. And nothing in this document should be read as limiting or undermining any of the legal obligations that states are subject to under international law. And the guidelines explicitly say this. Similarly, nothing in the document should be read as limiting or undermining or detracting from domestic legal obligations and standards that apply to states or international organisations or civil society that actually protect migrants in a better way than the way that we've articulated protection in these guidelines. So what are the main elements of this document? Let me just highlight that quickly in the next five odd minutes. There are three substantive sections, a set of 10 principles, a set of 15 guidelines, and a whole host of illustrative practices. And each of these elements are intended to serve a different purpose. When we say principles, what we mean are foundational and cross-cutting precepts drawn in some instances from international law that should essentially inform and guide actions by all stakeholders during all phases of a crisis. The guidelines, on the other hand, are targeted suggestions. They're organised by theme and by phase and they identify in broad terms the actions that are needed to better protect migrants. And stakeholders can use the guidelines to inform and shape crisis preparedness, emergency response and post-crisis action. And the practices are just that. It's a selection of non-exhaustive examples that illustrate ways to implement the guidelines. They're based on existing practices as well as recommendations and can be adapted to suit particular contexts and situations and priorities. So these are the 10 principles and they really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. They're not controversial, they make a lot of sense. As I said earlier, they're foundational and they're intended to be cross-cutting. So the first one is importance of saving lives. Respect for the inherent humanity and dignity of migrants means that every possible effort should be taken to save their lives. So even though conflicts and natural disasters can present complex and distinct challenges, humanitarian assistance has to be prioritised in an uncompromising and non-discriminatory manner. Principle two highlights the importance of human rights. As human beings, all migrants have human rights and this is regardless of their immigration status. To effectively protect migrants' human rights, it requires an understanding of how discrimination and differences, including those that may be based on immigration status, can constrain access to resources and to safety. Principle three is drawn directly from international law and it highlights the fact that states do actually have the primary responsibility to protect migrants within their territory and states also have responsibilities towards their citizens even when they're travelling abroad. Principle four complements that, even though states have primary responsibility to protect migrants, there are a host of other actors, private sector actors, international organisations and civil society that play a significant role in doing the same and they can really support states to better protect migrants. So to realise this potential, approaches to protect migrants should involve the unique knowledge, skills and capacities of these different actors and barriers that actually inhibit these actors from better protecting migrants need to be eliminated. Principle five articulates that all action should be guarded by the four humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. Principle six highlights the fact that migrants are actually rights holders but they're also really capable actors, resilient and creative in the face of crises and this agency needs to be recognised. They have the capacity to take charge of their own safety and wellbeing provided that they're given access to necessary information and the support they need to do so. So stakeholders need to create the types of conditions necessary for migrants to realise that potential and to help them enjoy their rights. Principle seven is about the fact that as mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, daughters, students and workers at all levels, migrants contribute to their families, communities and societies in both host and home states and communicating about them positively can counteract, can often counteract unfair and negative stereotypes about them and build their resilience to respond to crises. Principle eight is about the fact that effective and comprehensive responses can't only happen at one level, can't just happen at the international level or the national level, regional and local responses are also necessary. Often it's at the local level with local authorities and local non-state actors who are best placed to respond to migrants and to protect their needs. And this is because they're often the first responses and they're quite proximate to migrant populations. Principle nine is about the importance of partnerships. We've already talked about the fact that there are a range of different stakeholders and they have different skills and capacities and expertise and entering into cooperative arrangements and partnerships can often leverage those different capacities and strengths. And then principle 10 and one that's particularly relevant to this conference is about continuous research, learning and innovation to improve the collective response. So those are the principles that are articulated in the document. I don't think I'll go through the guidelines to the same level of detail, but what I'd like to say is that there are again, 15 in total, eight are in the preparedness phase, five are in the response phase and two are in the post-crisis phase. And the number of guidelines in the preparedness phase really underscores the fact that it's at this phase that much of the work needs to be done before the eruption of a crisis. Undertaking sufficient preparedness action means that you're building your capacity to mitigate the scope and scale of interventions that may be needed at the emergency phase and in its aftermath. Happy to take questions on the different guidelines. And for those of you who actually have a computer, I'll give you the website so that you can see where you can download the guidelines as well. But just a few more words on the last element of the guidelines. There are 80 odd pages of illustrative examples of practices and recommendations that help to implement the guidelines. And it's worth taking a look at those because they're quite extensive. And in addition to that, what we've recently done is launched an online repository that highlights real examples that stakeholders have taken in the context of crisis. So it's a searchable database that will allow you to obtain information about practices that have actually been implemented but also to know who you need to contact if you want to share or obtain further information. So let me just show you where that is. This is the website. The guidelines have now actually been translated into all their UN official languages. So you can read them to your heart's content in any language you like. And the repository is just over here. And you'll see the different thematic areas that are included in the repository in terms of practices and you can search through that. So my contact information is on the presentation which I think it will be uploaded later on into the UNU wider website for the conference. And the MIKIC initiative also has a secretary-ed email address. So feel free to get in touch. Thank you very much.