To these fundamental questions, inter alia, representatives of governments, UN agencies, international organizations and representatives of civil society tried to explore answers in Puerto Vallarta Mexico (November 8-11) where under the banner “Partnerships for Migration and Human Development: Shared Prosperity - Shared Responsibility” the Fourth Meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development was held.
 
The latest research findings demonstrate that forty per cent of international migration originates among bordering countries or those countries closely positioned geographically. In the majority of the cases the economic gap between sending and receiving countries is less robust than what is normally expected; only one fourth of migrants from Least Developed Countries (LDC’s) emigrate to their developed counterparts.
 
Further, in recent years the nexus between migration and development has been widely recognized. Nevertheless, procedures still in place today are detrimental to the full disclosure of its potentialities. This is the case of excessive or unnecessary costs for processing visa applications, the lack of international recognition for education and training activities, and the difficulty to access or transfer pension programs.
 
Finally, it is necessary to have in place an improved data collection system as well as a standardized and reliable evaluation system. Without these preconditions it will be difficult to factor topic aspects such as demography, urbanization and climate change effectively into migration policies.  
 
In light of those challenges, and in order to prepare and inform the relevant stakeholders and promote their active participation at the forum, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the MacArthur Foundation, presented a briefing in New York on the GFMD IV specifically tailored for representatives of the Permanent Missions to the United Nations Headquarters, though the briefing was open to the broader New York audience as well.
 
During this half-day briefing Ambassador Claude Heller, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN, called attention to the valuable opportunity provided by the Forum to further develop international cooperation on migration issues. Ambassador Heller emphasized how migrant human rights’ protection plays a fundamental role in achieving the goals that the international community set to foster human development. In particular, Ambassador Heller underscored the positive impact that the GFMD and other international processes may have to counteract the negative perception that in some cases still permeates international politics and the public with regards to the migration phenomenon.
 
Ms. Colleen Thouez, Senior Advisor at UNITAR New York further explored the progressive development of the migration policy discourse in the last two decades. Processes such as the GFMD, explained Ms. Thouez, helped States and other relevant stakeholders to come together and share common views on essential migration topics. Concepts such as “mutual responsibility” or “migration as a choice” and not any longer “migration as global necessity”, have just recently become widely accepted.
 
Ms. Eva Sandis, vice-chair of the UN-NGO Committee on Migration, acknowledged the increasing space that Civil Society is acquiring and welcomed the opportunity offered by the GFMD and the Civil Society Days events to bring to the table its perspectives. Despite the lack of resources that impacts Civil Society, important achievements have been reached to date. Today as a result of a multilateral international effort, Ms. Sandis pointed out, when we address the issue of “development” we do not analyze only the “economic side” but we focus on “human development.”
 
 

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