– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73^rd Session of the UN General Assembly

27 February 2019

Excellencies, Dear friends,

I thank the panelists for enriching this debate with your presentations, as well as the States for your constructive participation. I also acknowledge the relevant contributions of civil society.

The topics that were addressed and the resulting recommendations will be reflected in a report that I will distribute and that will fuel the processes for the next High Level Political Forums on Sustainable Development, in July and September, that I mentioned this morning.

During today’s debate, we have heard about the need to create capacities in the States to move forward in fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals, including migrant persons.

We heard success stories in establishing alliances to implement these Goals. We must work to strengthen them.

We need solidarity for migration to work for all: migrants and their families and their countries of origin, transit and destination.

International cooperation, including regional cooperation, are indispensable to face the challenges of migration.

We must improve the way we manage international migration and strengthen the confidence of citizens about the way Governments handle migration.

We also heard the valuable contributions of migrants and how investing in this matter benefits the countries of origin and destination.

We talked about the need to promote an intergenerational debate to favor the design of comprehensive policies. We need to include young people and contribute to the development of their capabilities.

The need to facilitate access to quality education and health for migrant children was also brought up.

Another recurring aspect was the value of including a gender perspective in migration policies.

There were coincidences in the room about the responsibilities of the private sector to create decent work for migrants and avoid situations of labor abuse and exploitation. Similarly, taking advantage of the private sector and creating commitments with it for data collection efforts.

We must insist in the links between remittances and development.

We acknowledged the importance of promoting a realistic narrative about migrants and their families, leaving aside prejudices and false information. In that sense, we highlighted the sound base offered by the Global Compact on Migration to create this new narrative.

Excellencies,

Perhaps the clearest and coinciding message of this debate has been that we will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda if we do not include migrants in a comprehensive manner in our efforts. No one must be left behind. The reviews of the High Level Political Forum must also reflect this aspiration.

Now, it is time to act. As President of the General Assembly, you can count on my full support to make both the 2030 Agenda and the Global Compact a reality.

I trust that we will know how to take advantage of the opportunity of migration to achieve more sustainable and prosperous societies, in which everyone has a space and a place, specially migrants.

Thank you.