Geneva, 28 November 2017 – The President of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, today addressed the 108th session of the Council of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva, Switzerland.
He said, “Migration is a global phenomenon. And a global phenomenon demands a global response, led by a global framework.” He added that it was time for the United Nations to “lead the charge” in crafting such a response.
The President was speaking ahead of a General Assembly meeting that will take place next week in Mexico and bring together Member States and other actors to jointly shape a vision for the first ever global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.
The President emphasized that, “We cannot measure migration only by laws, and policies, and regulations. It should insteadbe measured by the people it affects.”
While in Geneva, the President took the opportunity to exchange ideas, lessons learned and best practices with the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform and others involved in Geneva Peace Week, a recently concluded collective action initiative that focused on conflict prevention. The focus of his discussions involved peacebuilding, conflict prevention and the High-level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace that he will convene on 24 and 25 April 2018. He spoke about similar themes in a separate meeting with the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mr. Michael Møller.
The President will return to New York tonight.
***
For media inquiries, please contact:
Katharina Kandt, Communications Adviser to the President of the General Assembly, Kandt@un.org, +1 917-244-3890
