Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration to Be Adopted at High-Level Conference in Marrakech, Morocco, 10-11 December
Heads of State and Governments, ministers and other senior leaders, civil society representatives and representatives of the private and public sectors will gather in Marrakesh at a high-level conference from 10 to 11 December to formally adopt the first-ever Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
The Conference, hosted by the Government of Morocco, will convene under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly as agreed to by Member States in the “New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants”.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, President of the General Assembly María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for International Migration Louise Arbour will open the meeting. Ms. Arbour will also serve as Secretary-General for the Conference.
The programme of work for the Conference will consist of a plenary debate over the two days, during which Member States will confirm their political commitment to the Global Compact for Migration. Two interactive dialogues with a keynote speaker and a panel of three will provide a pathway for implementation and partnerships at all levels with stakeholders.
The first dialogue, “Promoting action on the commitments of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration”, will be led by keynote speaker, Madeleine Albright, former United States Secretary of State. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia and chair of the High-Level Panel on International Migration in Africa, will be the keynote for the second dialogue, “Partnerships and innovative initiatives for the way forward.”
Background of Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration
The Global Compact for Migration is the culmination of more than 18 months of discussions and consultations among Member States and stakeholders including local officials, civil society and migrants, in accordance with the New York Declaration, which was adopted unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2016. It is the first-ever United Nations global agreement on a common approach to international migration in all its dimensions.
“It is an opportunity to maximize the contribution that millions of migrants are already making to our societies and to agree a set of actions to ensure that the rights of all migrants are fully respected,” the Secretary-General said at the launch of his report “Making Migration Work for All”.
While the ultimate aim of the Global Compact for Migration is to improve the cooperation and management of cross-border movements of people, the Global Compact also makes clear that it is legally non-binding, fully respecting the sovereignty of all States.
The Global Compact encompasses 23 objectives to help manage migration at all levels - global, national and local. Among others, it addresses such issues as adverse drivers that impede people from accessing sustainable livelihoods in their countries of origin; risks and vulnerabilities faced by people during various stages of migration; concerns of States and communities; the economic and social effects and implications migration may have on social and environmental levels as communities undergo demographic changes; and it strives to create conditions to help migrants add value to societies through their human, economic and social contributions to sustainable development.
Each objective represents a general goal, with the Global Compact providing a catalogue of possible actions that States can draw from to develop their responses to assist in implementing their migration policies. These actions are based on internationally recognized best practices and lessons learnt that were collected in the consultation process ahead of the negotiations.
Additional Information
General and background information on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, please visit https://refugeesmigrants.un.org/.
For conference information, including live webcast information, please visit http://www.un.org/en/conf/migration/.
Media Contacts
Sunil Narula, email: narulas@un.org, tel.: +1 212 963 1262; or Donna Cusumano, email: cusumanod@un.org, tel.: +1 212 963 1148, at the Department of Public Information; or Charbel Raji, email: raji1@un.org, tel.: +1 917 428 4264, at the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for International Migration.