Global Forum on Migration & Development 2020
The 2020 UAE Chairmanship
The 2020 GFMD Chair, United Arab Emirates (UAE) has prioritised 6 thematic areas (labour migration, skills, new technologies, migrant protection, irregular migration and partnerships). These 6 themes will direct the course of the GFMD's 2020 activities towards a conversation between States, local authorities, civil society and the business sector that is future-focused and partnership-oriented. The Chair committed to include all GFMD Stakeholders into the GFMD discussions throughout the activities in 2020, elevating and securing local authorities equal access as full members of the GFMD constituency and to build the thematic discussions through a series of regional consultations.
The 13th GFMD Summit was scheduled for 18 - 26 January 2021 and took place entirely online.
All information about their Chairmanship can be found here.
What’s next?
As the UAE Chairmanship has come to an end, the Mayors Mechanism now prepares to engage with the GFMD Steering Group to advance these thematic priorities in 2021. We welcome the Government of France’s bid to co-chair the 2022 - 2023 GFMD, particularly their interest to focus the GFMD’s attention on the impact of climate change on migration and development as well as their call for a Sub-Saharan African government to join them as Co-Chair.
Read the March 2021 joint letter by the GFMD Mechanisms to the GFMD Steering Group here.
The Mayors Mechanism at the UAE GFMD Summit
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the GFMD Summit has taken place fully online. In view of the virtual-only setting, the Mayors Mechanism has not organised a Mayoral Forum but has identified a delegation of city representatives to speak in the different GFMD Sessions.
The 13th Summit brought over 2000 participants around the world from national governments, local and regional governments, the private sector and civil society to discuss the future of human mobility and how to build innovative partnership for sustainable development. Over 840 national government representatives from 116 States attended, and more than 90 local and regional governments joined the discussions as active participants, including 25 local leaders as official panelists in 18 of the Summit’s formal events. Check out our resources page for city statements and our press release.
As an integral part of the Summit, the Mayors Mechanism hosted a session between national and local governments on Friday January 22, entitled: Enabling local solutions for inclusive COVID-19 response and recovery. This session discussed local-to-national partnerships and identified priorities for joint action, barriers to success and solutions for greater collaboration on migration policymaking going forward in times of COVID-19. Please consult the Institute for International Sustainable Development (IISD) for a detailed overview of the session.
GFMD Friends of the Forum
Friends of the Forum
The Friends of the Forum serves as a platform for the GFMD Chair to inform all Friends of the Forum members of Forum-related developments. The Forum also serves to advise the Chair on the GFMD Summit and discusses other issues such as the GFMD Working Groups and GFMD preparatory meetings. The GFMD Mechanisms are invited to participate and share updates in this Forum.
The 2020 Friends of the Forum meetings:
22 July 2020: Read the Mayors Mechanism Statement here.
1 October 2020: Read the Mayors Mechanism Statement here.
4 December 2020
Find more information here.
GFMD Regional Consultations
Regional Consultations
The GFMD Chair has organised 6 regional consultations between May and July with the aim to inform the roundtables of the GFMD Summit and to identify areas for future collaboration and partnership. As a basis for the consultations, thematic papers have been drafted by GFMD Thematic Leads to inform and kickstart the regional deliberations. The following consultations took place:
GFMD African Union, French and English Consultation
GFMD RCM - Puebla Process
GFMD Bali Process
GFMD Abu Dhabi Dialogue
GFMD OECD
Local governments participated in these consultations. You can find the Mayors Mechanism Regional Summary Reports on our resources page.