With surprisingly little fanfare, the online application process has started for the Civil Society Days component of this years’ Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD). The deadline for applications is 16 June 2015. While this deadline has been extended more than once for past meetings, I would not recommend to count on it, in particular since usually only around a quarter of all applications are accepted. The Civil Society Days will be held in the same venue as the government Meeting , the Lütfi Kirdar – Istanbul Convention and Exhibition Centre on 12 – 13 October in Istanbul, Turkey, followed by an interface session with governments on October 14. The link to the application can be found here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/gfmdcsd2015application
There will be space for about 200 civil society participants. The organizers point out that, as in in previous years, there will be a selection process supervised by the International Steering Committee working with ICMC’s Civil Society Coordinating Office. Selection will “take into account sectoral, geographic, and gender diversity, broad constituency and relevant experience and knowledge on migration and development issues”.
For those who will not be selected or do not plan to apply, an additional opportunity has been provided in the past years: Participation in the more inclusive Peoples’ Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights (PGA) (Of course, this is a very relevant Forum for delegates as well and I am often surprised how many of them are not aware of this process). However, as of yet there has been no official confirmation that a PGA will take place in Turkey this year.
There was certainly a lot of interest expressed in having a PGA when I participated in a consultative/preparatory meeting in Istanbul shortly before Easter, but it also became clear that establishing a National Organizing Committee in Turkey will definitely constitute a challenge. If a PGA will happen (and I will post in this blog as soon as I know more), it will most likely take place the Weekend before the official GFMD process, i.e. 10-11 October.
During several of the previous GFMDs, a counter event took place as well – the International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR). From my experience, it is very unlikely to expect announcements any time soon, but I will try to find out if there are actually plans to put together a meeting.
As a side note, I am somewhat surprised, that the start of the application process has not been announced on any of the channels I subscribe to – especially considering the fairly tight deadline. Maybe this will change now that the Pentecost celebrations/holidays are offer.
UPDATE: The Spirit of Pentecost seems to have loosened the tongues indeed, as an invitation has been sent out through the GFMD Civil Society mailing list just now… 🙂
The GFMD, Migration, Development and Human Rights 
UPDATE: Deadline for online applications to 2015 GFMD CSD have been extended until 21 June!