COMMISSION FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT TO HOLD PANEL ON INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION

Note to Correspondents

COMMISSION FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT TO HOLD PANEL ON INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION

The Commission for Social development will hold a panel discussion on the issue of international migration from a social perspective on Tuesday, 10 February from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Conference Room 4 at Headquarters.

The panel discussion on “International migration and migrants from a social perspective” will be chaired by Jean-Jacques Elmiger, Chairman of the forty-second session of the Commission for Social Development.  The panellists are Gerónimo Gutiérrez, Vice-Minister for North America at the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also an economist and political scientist; and Jan O. Karlsson, Co-Chair of the Global Commission on International Migration and former Minister for Development Cooperation, Migration and Asylum Policy with the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Launched on 9 December 2003, the Global Commission is an independent body with mandates to bring migration issues to the top of the global agenda; to analyse shortcomings in approaches by governments or other bodies; and to make recommendations on how to manage migration better.

In October 2003, Mr. Gutiérrez and Mr. Karlsson participated in the meeting of the International Forum for Social Development on “International migrants and development” held at the United Nations.  It was then decided to hold this panel to kick off deliberation on the topic.

By focusing on migration from a social perspective, the Commission aims to look at “international migration through the perceptions it generates, through the well-being of the international migrants themselves and through its effects on the social fabric of the countries involved.”

The issue has been a United Nations priority since Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the Organization to “deepen its knowledge, sharpen its focus and act upon more effectively” on migration in his September 2002 report, “Strengthening the United Nations:  An Agenda for Further Change”.  On several occasions the Secretary General has stated that international migration was an important item on the agenda of the international community.

On 29 January, in his speech of acceptance of the Sakharov Prize at the European Parliament, Mr. Annan reminded European lawmakers it was “important to manage migration better than we do”.  He took the same message to the world in an article published around the world by major newspapers the same day.

The Commission for Social Development -a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations -- is meeting at Headquarters trough Friday 13 February.

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