MPI Organizes Several Events on Sidelines of International Migration Review Forum
WASHINGTON — The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) is co-organizing several events on the sidelines of the first-ever International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) that will take place at United Nations headquarters in New York this Tuesday through Friday. The forum represents the first global stock-taking on implementation of the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and progress towards meeting its goals.
MPI’s partners in the side events, which will focus on global mobility, migrant reintegration and social cohesion, include the International Organization for Migration (IOM); UN Development Programme (UNDP); World Health Organization (WHO); the governments of Australia, Belgium, Germany and the Philippines; and the African Centres for Disease Control. Some of the events are open only to IMRF attendees, while others will be livestreamed. Full details are below.
MPI Senior Fellow and Co-Founder Kathleen Newland will moderate the first formal roundtable of the IMRF on Tuesday morning, which will focus on progress in the implementation of GCM objectives that relate to climate-induced migration, regular migration pathways, migrant rights, labor migration, fair and ethical recruitment and skills development.
And MPI and MPI Europe Senior Policy Analyst Camille Le Coz will participate in IMRF Roundtable Two on Tuesday afternoon, with a formal intervention about developments in meeting GCM objectives specifically on dignified return and reintegration, and provision of legal documentation.
The side events MPI is co-organizing are as follows:
Tuesday, May 17, 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. ET: In-person and livestreamed conversation:
Making Social Cohesion Work for Everyone: What Can We Learn from Development Interventions on How to Promote Inclusion and Reduce Xenophobia?
The UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director, UNDP Crisis Bureau Asako Okai will join speakers from Morocco, Colombia and Belgium in a practical dialogue on practices that have been effective in building socially cohesive and inclusive societies amid concerns that xenophobia and discrimination are on the rise. The side event is organized by UNDP, Enabel (Belgium’s development agency) and MPI, in a conversation moderated by Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, associate director of MPI’s International Program. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in French and Spanish.
For more details and to register, visit: www.migrationpolicy.org/events/social-cohesion-development-interventions
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Thursday, May 19, 8:00 – 9:15 a.m. ET: Invitation-only event at the Permanent Mission of Belgium to the United Nations:
Sustainable Reintegration and Development: How to Take the Next Step?
Co-organized by BMZ (the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), Enabel and MPI, this side event aims to take stock of what has been achieved to move towards the GCM’s objective of sustainable reintegration of returned migrants, as well as reflect on the agenda of reintegration and development actors for the next period. Belgium’s State Secretary for Asylum and Migration, Sammy Mahdi, will offer keynote remarks, followed by a panel with the director general of Senegalese Abroad, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the director of IOM’s Department of Migration Management; and the head of the Division for Return and Reintegration, BMZ. Martin Mauthe-Käter from BMZ and MPI Europe Director Hanne Beirens will offer opening remarks.
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Thursday, May 19, 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. ET: In-person and livestreamed conversation:
Preparedness for the Next Pandemic: Towards a Resilient Global Architecture on Borders and Health
This side event, co-hosted by IOM, WHO and MPI, seeks to generate consensus on a pioneering set of health and mobility principles to guide governments and international organizations when future global public health crises occur. IOM Director General António Vitorino; WHO Deputy Director-General Zsuzsanna Jakab; a senior official from the Africa Centres for Disease Control; senior migration, border management and home affairs officials from the governments of Australia, Colombia, Kenya, the Philippines and United States; and the Quaker United Nations Office will seek to foster greater international coordination over health and mobility by promoting a set of principles that are clear, equitable, streamlined and future-focused. This high-level conversation will be moderated by MPI President Andrew Selee.
The side event, co-hosted by IOM, WHO and MPI, will be in person in Room 8, UN Headquarters, and will be livestreamed on UN Web TV and MPI platforms.
For more details and to register, visit: www.migrationpolicy.org/events/preparedness-next-pandemic-borders-health
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RELATED RESOURCES
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Global Mobility: For a recent IOM-MPI report examining the state of global mobility during the second year of the pandemic, check out: COVID-19 and the State of Global Mobility in 2021.
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Reintegration: A recent MPI Europe policy brief on building and strengthening monitoring and evaluation to assess the growing number of AVRR programs: Putting Migrant Reintegration Programs to the Test: A Road Map to a Monitoring System. And ways to foster better cooperation by taking migrant-origin country considerations into greater account: EU Strategy on Voluntary Return and Reintegration: Crafting a Road Map to Better Cooperation with Migrants’ Countries of Origin.
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Social Cohesion: As policymakers and other stakeholders seek to address rising xenophobia and discrimination, they often attempt to shift the narrative around refugees and migrants. Yet a new MPI report, From Fear to Solidarity: The Difficulty in Shifting Public Narratives about Refugees, makes the case there are better ways to bolster solidarity and defuse tension.