There were plans for hybrid participation (some in person, some online) being discussed until late last year, but in the end, “Zoomification” has now also reached the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD). This Monday, January 18, the 13th edition of the summit – theme: “The Future of Human Mobility: Innovative Partnerships for Sustainable Development” – will be held as an “online only” event. An understandable decision, but regrettable nonetheless, since the organizing Chair, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had announced that for the first time (almost) all sessions would be open to all participants, i.e. no separate Civil Society and Government Days. This principle is now being applied to the online program. In several preparatory events, civil society representatives have already picked their four advocacy priorities for the GFMD summit; these are:
A symposium with 9 reflections and reports on the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular Migration (GCM) has been published in the Newsletter of the American Political Science Association’s (APSA) Organized Section on Migration and Citizenship. A main focus is on the regional dimensions – Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Europe – and further contributions tackle issues such as implementation, the dimension of rights and the role of Civil society. The symposium was organized by the recently set-up Academic Council on the Global Compact for Migration (ACGCM) and the publication can be downloaded open access here: 
A new handbook on migration and development has been published. The volume has been edited by Tanja Bastia and Ronald Skeldon who have brought together an impressive collection of 55 chapters, examining the manifold connections between the two areas. The topics of the contributions include gender, diasporas, families and social policies and, particular relevant for the scope of this blog, a whole section on “Polices, Rights and Interventions”. Not surprisingly, the 600 page book comes at a rather heavy price, but at least a 20 percent discount is available with this flyer: 
A new series of interdisciplinary working papers on Migration, Mobility, and Forced Displacement has been launched at the Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA). The institute is based at the University of Ghana. Earlier this year, I had the great opportunity to act as convener of the first Interdisciplinary Fellow Group (IFG) in Accra. Four months of exciting collaborative research have now resulted in the publication of our first batch of working papers They deal with 
The regional level of migration governance is gaining increasing scholarly attention – being situated at a meso-level between national and bilateral migration policies and the emerging global migration governance structure. The appearance and more widespread usage of the concept of ‘regional migration governance’ in recent years can be seen as an indicator that regions beyond the European Union (EU) have begun to engage with migration policy. A recently published edited volume acknowledges this trend and, besides the EU, shines light on Africa, Asia-Pacific and Central Asia as well as Europe, the Middle East and North and South America. I have contributed a chapter on ASEAN and compiled below several other publications on migration governance in the region: 
The application process for the 2019 Civil Society Days of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) has been opened. This year’s GFMD will take place 19-22 November in Quito, Ecuador under the theme “Sustainable approaches to human mobility: Upholding rights, strengthening state agency, and advancing development through partnerships and collective action”. Deadline for all applications is 26 August. Meanwhile, the host of the 2020 GFMD has been decided: The United Arab Emirates (UAE), representing the major destination region of the Gulf states. You can apply for the Civil Society Days here: 
More than half a year has passed since the Global Compact on safe, orderly and regular migration has been agreed upon at the end of 2018 in Morocco and New York. Talks about the implementation and monitoring of the compact and the role civil society can play in all of this are still ongoing. Here are some publications that take the reader along the road to and from Marrakesh: what processes led to the development of the compact, what was the role of the GFMD in particular and what invited and invented spaces could civil society use to bring the voices of migrants into these deliberations? At least some of these publications are open access already: 
Migrant and refugee youth voices must be heard and taken seriously: That was one of the central messages of the inaugural Youth Forum held in in Marrakech last December. The event was part of the “migration week” and took place between the GFMD and UN Conference on the Global Compact for Migration. So Young Chang participated in the Forum and thankfully agreed to share her observations in this blogpost: Blog Stats
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