The Peoples’ Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights (PGA) has started today, bringing together civil society representatives on the eve of the 12th Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD). Over the course of a week, more than 1000 delegates from all world regions will deliberate on migration-related issues in a variety of forums. Among the topics being discussed are access to services for migrants, mixed migration flows, climate-related migration, labour migration and the criminalization of migrants. An overarching theme is the implementation and monitoring of the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. Here’s an overview of what’s happening in Quito:
A quick notice first – , for immediate and much more frequent impressions, please check out my posts on Twitter, the handle is @srother
The past weekend has already seen a number of meetings, focusing in particular on the regional level, Trade Union meetings etc. Sunday saw the start of the second Youth Forum at the GFMD. I wasn’t able to participate (probably too old even for an observer 😉 ) , but here is a tweet summing up the first outcomes:
You can also find a report from the first Youth Forum here:
Today saw the start of the Peoples’ Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights (PGA) at the Universidad Central del Ecuador. It is a one-day event, and as William Gois from the Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) pointed out at the opening session, this year the concept is a bit different from previous events: No final outcome document is planned, the main Goal is rather to bring civil society together for intra- and interregional exchange and strategizing. No international organisations or governments are part of this process: “This is our space”. The goal remains of course to bring these grassroots- issues and discourses into more formal and limited spaces such as the GFMD.
The breakout sessions evolve around some fairly specific Questions – see These one shere for example:
The following days will see a somewhat condensed version of the GFMD structure. I found this graphic from GFMD Civil Society Website very helpful, so I hope it is OK to share it:
Tuesday January 21 will see a number of side events, details on which you can find here:
https://gfmdcivilsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Information-Side-Events-GFMD-2019.pdf
On the evening of the same day the GFMD will be opened – here is a look at the program from the Civil Society perspective (graphic also taking from their Website)
The following day, Wednesday January 22 will see many parallel events: Government meeting, Civil Society Days, Business Meeting and the Mayoral Forum.
For info on the latter, see here:
https://www.uclg.org/en/media/events/6th-mayoral-forum-human-mobility-migration-and-development
and find the concept note here:
https://www.gfmd.org/files/documents/concept_-_2019_mayoral_forum.pdf
Thursday, January 23 is the date of the common space where government and civil society representatives can interact. Actually, there should be quite some opportunity for interaction during the whole event, since all the GFMD-related meetings take place under the same roof and access to most sessions is quite open (I remember the common space in 2009 in Greece where only a small number of civil society representatives were invited to some security guarded sessions…)
I am particularly looking forward to Friday January 24, where a GFMD voluntary dialogue on the Global compact will be held. This should be a good opportunity to get updates on the implementation and monitoring process of the GCM (in particular the still fairly mysterioud regional consultations) the GFMDs relation to the GCM and civil society strategizing.
In sum, a full week lies ahead. I will continually report on Twitter, but will also try to make some more comprehensive assessments in this blog.
P.S. If you wondered what happened to the International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR) or the Churches Witnessing With Migrants (CWWM) – the later took already place in November 2019 when the GFMD was originally scheduled (but then postponeddue to political unrest)
The GFMD, Migration, Development and Human Rights 
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