 The media play a vital role shaping the way we think about migration. Too often, information is taken at face value and recirculated without critical analysis, exerting a powerful influence on all people around the world perceive migrants. We have seen how anti-migrant sentiment on social media, for example, is fueling xenophobia and shifting public opinion against the very people who are in the many cases on the front line of the fight against COVID-19. On International Migrants Day, I am pleased to announce that the Government of Ireland, through the generous support of Irish aid, is partnering with IOM to launch the Global Migration Media Academy. The Academy will equip students of journalism and media with the online tools, contextual knowledge and ethical standards they will need to report fully on migration in this fast-evolving information age. We are consolidating IOM's decades of experience training media on migration issues to work collaboratively with journalists, governments and civil society partners in five countries. Ireland, Mexico, Morocco, the Philippines and Serbia. The Academy will offer courses in multiple languages, free and accessible to all online, working closely with universities. We will integrate migration modules in media studies and journalism programs. We will address knowledge gaps and educate future influencers and opinion makers about the accurate use of terminology and data to free migration at the national or regional level as part of the broader, balanced discussion over the role migration plays in our societies. As IOM and its UN partners work to reimagine human mobility, we are addressing the underlying narrative by educating influential voices of the future. I'm delighted to announce Ireland's support for the establishment by the International Organization for Migration of the Global Migration Media Academy, which will be partly based here in Ireland. We are proud of our diaspora, who for centuries have moved all over the world. On this international day of migration, it's also important to remember that Irish migrants, like others, at times faced hostility, mistrust and mistruths. We know too, from our own experience, that migration, if well managed, has the potential to contribute positively to countries of destination and of origin. There are over 270 million migrants worldwide today, living new lives and building new communities in every corner of the globe. And that is why I look forward to the Global Migration Media Academy playing an important role in countering the misinformation and distortion that can surround the issue of migration. It will provide media professionals and students with the tools to understand the reality of migration and to counter misleading narratives. Let's work together, as we agree in the Global Compact for Migration, to make migration work for all.