Briefing for Member States by the UN Network on Migration on the preparations for the International Migration Review Forum

Remarks by H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly

Geneva,

October 19,  2021

Antonio Vitórino, Coordinator of the United Nations Network on Migration and Director General of the International Organization for Migration,

Excellencies,

Distinguished delegates,

I wish you all a very good morning, afternoon, evening, and so on.

It is my pleasure to join you for this briefing on the first International Migration Review Forum of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

This is the first time that we are holding this forum following the adoption of the Global Compact in 2018. Let us make full use of this opportunity to reflect on the challenges we have confronted since then, on what we can improve upon, and on the road ahead as we pursue our goal of establishing an effective and just global migration regime.

As we do so, I take this opportunity to emphasize the need for strong international partnerships. As recognized in the 2030 Agenda, ‘international migration is a multi-dimensional reality’ driven by a variety of global factors.

Regulating its flow in a manner that is beneficial for countries of origin, transit, and destination alike, requires a coherent and comprehensive global response.

This reality is at the heart of the Global Compact’s call for multilateral cooperation in setting effective policies to regulate international migration.

Excellencies

Today, we are confronting challenges that we did not envision when we adopted the Global Compact – primarily as a result of Covid-19 pandemic.

The pandemic has already left a lasting legacy across a number of socio-economic spheres, and poses unprecedented challenges to our ability to meet the Sustainable Development Goals on schedule.

The social and economic turbulence wrought by the pandemic have in turn profoundly impacted international migration and displacement patterns.

As the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis continues to spread, the amount of money migrant workers send home is projected to decline 14 percent by 2021 compared to the pre COVID-19 levels in 2019.

During these challenging times, many migrant workers have had their lives upended. They have suffered economic hardship, and some have sadly become victims of abuse.

Despite the mobility constraints posed by COVID-19 pandemic, migrants continue to embark on clandestine journeys, fleeing violence and poverty and seeking to improve their lives. COVID-19 responses have increased the risks and uncertainty of these journeys, pushing people into more perilous situations where humanitarian support and rescue may not be available.

Furthermore, excluding migrants’ access to entitlements or access to health care in domestic legal and policy frameworks may increase transmission risks, adverse outcomes and inhibit access to early detection, treatment and negatively affect public health management.

This is especially tragic when we consider the essential role played by migrant workers in the global pandemic response, assisting governments as front-line workers, medical professionals, technical experts, and as vital drivers of global supply chains.

Our response to the pandemic needs to be inclusive.

It needs to be compassionate.

And it needs to be considerate.

While vaccines may have allowed us to turn the page on the darkest chapter of the pandemic, much work remains to be done to ensure that we do in fact build back better. It is in all our interests to ensure that migrants are properly integrated into these efforts – because no one is safe, until everyone is safe.

Excellencies,

The pandemic has amplified a fundamental truth of the twenty first century: this era’s major challenges are interlinked and global in nature.

Many of the pressing issues that remain on the United Nation’s agenda –Covid-19, climate change, poverty, natural disasters, and political conflict – have a direct impact on migration.

This forum presents an opportunity to consider each of these issues in relation to migration. A healthy migration regime can only thrive in the context of a world that is prospering and is at peace with itself. 

I believe that such a world is achievable. That belief is precisely what I have adopted: ‘hope’ as the theme for this year’s session of the General Assembly. 

It is my firm conviction that by delivering on the hopeful vision I have outlined in my Presidency, prioritizing the well-being of our people and our planet, we can inaugurate a better world – one in which the peaceful and free flow of goods, ideas and people can thrive. One in which migrant workers and their rights are fully respected.  

I intend to infuse the forum with that same hopeful spirit.

To speak a few words on its logistics and preparations, I am pleased to announce that we will hold the forum from 10-13 May 2022, and that it will be preceded by a multistakeholder hearing on 9 May.

I will be working with countries, to identify co-facilitators who will conduct open, transparent, and inclusive intergovernmental consultations, towards the formulation of a brief progress declaration.

I expect that the declaration will identify progress made on all 23 objectives of the global compact, while also identifying key challenges, opportunities, and emerging issues.

In addition to this, I expect that it will identify scope for further international cooperation on international migration.

As the forum draws nearer, I call on Member States to be bold in their outlook. This first Forum will set the stage, and the benchmark for future forums.

We will explore avenues to bring together stakeholders at every level – member states, as well as regional and local actors – who are working to achieve the objectives of the Compact, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Let us raise the bar and our ambitions – and deliver on our vision of safe, orderly, and regular migration.

Thank you.