Remarks by H.E. Mr Mogens Lykketoft, President of the 70th session of the General Assembly at Informal briefing by the Deputy Secretary-General on the relationship between the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration
3pm, 14 July 2016
Excellencies, Mr Deputy Secretary-General, Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon to you all.
These are extremely difficult times for migrants and refugees around the world.
As we know, the number of people on the move, including those who are fleeing conflict, is at an unprecedentedly high level.
From the World Humanitarian Summit last May to the high level plenary meeting of the General Assembly on 19 September on large movement of refugees and migrants, the international community has been trying to strengthen the global response and address both immediate and longer term challenges associated with this situation.
As the global lead organization on migration and human mobility, the IOM plays an important role in the protection of migrants’ rights, in the assistance of displaced people and migration-affected communities, including in the areas of resettlement and returns.
In this context, the UN and the IOM have strong mutual interest for strengthened institutional relationship.
I am very pleased that the IOM and UN have negotiated and agreed on a draft agreement following on from a call from the General Assembly last April and I look forward to hearing more details from the Deputy-Secretary General.
The draft agreement has been approved by the Council of the International Organization for Migration at its first special session on 30 June 2016 and the Secretary General, in his Note A/70/976, has presented the draft agreement to the General Assembly for approval.
I expect that this matter will be addressed during a plenary meeting of the General Assembly on 25 July.
Thereafter, as mentioned in the Secretary-General’s Note, the draft agreement can be signed by the Director General of the IOM and the Secretary-General at the 19 September 2016 meeting.