 So without further delays, I have the honour to introduce the first speaker who I think in this audience might not need that much introduction, but Mr Antonio Vittorino, the director general of the International Organization for Migration, who has spent over 27 years of international and national political and academic experience, which brought him consistently in touch with the migration context. He has, amongst other positions, served at the European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs, for the European Union, and prior to joining the European Commission, Antonio Vittorino served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of Portugal. Director General, the floor is yours. Thank you so much, Par, and good morning to all of you. Good afternoon and good evening for those who are following us online. Welcome to this first session of 2023 of IDM, the Sustainable Development Goals, as it has been said, are indeed a symbol of collective commitment to the well-being of humanity. An explicit recognition that successful human development will only take place if we all, in concert, invest together. Today, at the midpoint of the 2030 agenda, we must accept that we are drifting from our common ambition. As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, global inequality and insecurity is once again on the rise. A record-breaking forced displacement and the proliferating impacts of climate change will raise further barriers to attaining the STGs by 2030. Inequalities have worsened, and the most vulnerable people are once again and justly paying the highest price. And yet, we are not utilizing all the means at our disposal to meet our commitments. Human mobility, in all its dimensions, can be a powerful driver to deliver the 2030 agenda. With the right enabling conditions, human mobility can not only fulfill the aspirations of those who move and the societies they join, but it can lift up those who stay behind. A recent study from the International Monetary Fund suggests that every additional one percent of immigration has the potential to boost GDP growth by two percent in destination countries, in addition to the boost to economies in countries of origin. These benefits are not guaranteed. Too often, policies fail to incorporate the development effects of migration. And too often, migrants are put at risk. Communities come under strain and development gains jeopardized. Making human mobility work for sustainable development requires, in my view, global, local and community efforts to expand access to services and social protection, enhance equitable financial inclusion, foster integration and social cohesion of the Earth's communities, mobilize diasporas, and critically guarantee migrants' rights. The global compact for safe orderly and regular migration has given us a blueprint for the potential development benefits of human mobility. It recalls that, and I quote, migration is a multi-dimensional reality that cannot be addressed by one government policy sector alone. This addition of the International Dialogue on Migration pursues exactly this philosophy of the need of comprehensive action. Through our discussions, we aim to identify tangible actions to leverage human mobility for sustainable development, to transform and accelerate positive change. Migration is a reflection of global inequalities in terms of wages, labor market opportunities, and even lifestyles. Migrants and displaced populations are more likely to find themselves impacted by various forms of intersecting inequalities and risks to well-being. Migrants can find themselves in poverty, even while employed. Currently, only a minority of migrants have access to social protection benefits in destination and origin countries through portability and bilateral agreements. Yet speaking with migrants and displaced persons means speaking with the people who are themselves a cornerstone of development, innovation, and progress. How can we reduce vulnerabilities and best equip people on the move with the tools to contribute, whether through extending social protection or establishing inclusive access to services such as universal health care? Initiatives such as the global accelerator on jobs and social protection for just transitions are key to ensure a greater benefit for people on the move. How can we work to develop cross-border mobility and safe, regular pathways that can in turn create positive multipliers? Dispers communities are not passive actors. They are entrepreneurs. They are investors. And they are drivers of change. Whether boosting global value chains contributing to the green economy or building financial capital through increased remittances and trade, how we design our immigration systems at both national and regional levels and empower those who migrate can have deep knock-on impacts for our economies and communities. But the barriers to entrepreneurship and the cost of remittances is sending to low and middle income countries, still high as 6% on average, are constraining this potential. As mobility patterns become increasingly complex, driven and impacted by major global transformations, geopolitical conditions, and also climate change, we must integrate human mobility considerations not just into development and adaptation plans, but also prevention, preparedness, and disaster risk reduction. The world is shifting on its axis in terms of demographic change, leaving some countries and regions rapidly aging. At the same time, digital innovation and connectivity is changing the way we interact, one with the others, and changing even our understanding of place to be or to work. How can we prepare the next generation of people on the move to adapt to fast changing global labor markets and constantly evolving needs from those labor markets while maintaining our commitments to young and also aging populations? Not only we need to invest more in skills and their effective mutual recognition, but we will have to reduce the current disparities in digital access. These are broad questions which raise a multitude of possible actions and answers, but we are not alone. We work in partnership. We have seen how important cities and local leaders have become for development and particularly in a context of urban migration. Nowadays, 60 percent of the migrants worldwide already live in cities. We have also seen how young people, including young migrants, and the majority of migrants are young people, are pushing for to turn words into action to mitigate sharpening climate impacts. We have seen the promise of non-governmental and private sector partnership to expand development outcomes. And we have seen the UN system come together with member states and with stakeholders convened by the UN network on migration to demonstrate how the global compact implementation contributes to improving the lives of migrants and achieving the SDGs. During our discussions over the next couple of days, we will be joined by governments, youth representatives, civil society, local authorities, and community representatives, sister UN agencies, and experts. We want to assess the barriers and bring the use of human mobility to attain the sustainable development goals as part of our contribution towards the SDG summit in September this year. Our goal, to be honest, is to identify and agree on specific, concrete actions to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs by the closing of this meeting. We need to be both bold and ambitious. We have this opportunity together to take transformative actions. And our discussion cannot wait. At the midway point of the 2030 agenda, we risk leaving one in every eight people in the world behind. Hundreds of millions of international migrants, internal migrants, and displaced persons. They need our support and our creativity and innovation. So where? That effectively no one is left behind. Therefore, colleagues, I look forward to hearing from you all today and tomorrow as to the steps we can take together to ensure the vital recognition of migration and human mobility in a more inclusive and sustainable world, translating ambitions into outcomes. Thank you. Thank you very much, Director General, for setting the scene for the next two days of dialogue, and especially for asking all of us for action points and outcomes.