GLOBAL FORUM ON MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT GLOBAL FORUM ON MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT Report of the first meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development Belgium, July 9-11, 2007 2008 This report is a detailed record of the preparation, proceedings and outcomes of the first meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development organised by the Government of Belgium on 9-11 July, 2007, in consultation with the Special Repre- sentative of the Secretary General of the United Nations on International Migration and Development and an open-ended group of UN Member States, the “Friends of the Forum”. It is a testimony to the extraordinary collaboration possible today among governments, and between governments, international organizations and other civil society players, on migration and development and to the existing potential for the identification of mutually reinforcing policies in these areas. The meeting aimed to deepen understanding of the opportunities and challenges of migration for develo- pment and vice versa, and to identify practical ways to address these at national, regional and global levels. It also established a structural framework to assure the continuation of this global process. ISBN 978-2-8027-2582-4 D / 2008 / 0023 / 70 © 2008 Etablissements Emile Bruylant, S.A. Rue de la Régence 67, 1000 Bruxelles. Tous droits, même de reproduction d’extraits, de reproduction photomécanique ou de traduction, réservés. imprimé en belgique OVERVIEW Pages Acknowledgments . 7 Specific acknowledgments . 9 Foreword . 13 Executive summary . 15 GLOBAL FORUM ON MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT – FIRST MEETING – 9-11 July 2007, Belgium I. Background . 27 II. Preparatory process . 29 III. The meeting : 9-11 July 2007. 39 IV. Conclusions and the way forward . 156 ANNEXES Speech by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt . 165 Speech of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon. 168 Future of the Forum : Operating modalities . 174 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report not only reflects the discussions and outcomes of the three-day meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, but also provides insight into its preparation, which distinguished itself as open, participative and globally inclusive, involving governments, international organizations, NGOs and civil society. The Government of Belgium which offered to organise the first ever meeting of the Forum, at the initiative of the Minister for Development Cooperation, Mr Armand De Decker, largely financed the meeting. It initiated the process with the support of an interdepartmental group, which acted as a conceptual think-tank and gave logistical support, in particular in the initial phase. Thanks to the financial support and the secondment of per- sonnel by several governments and institutions, I could set up by the end of 2006 an ad hoc international Taskforce of Belgian and international experts, which I had the pleasure to direct. The Taskforce undertook from January 2007 onwards all activ- ities related to the preparations and the organization of the first Forum meeting. Its contribution was pivotal to the success of the preparatory process as well as of the meeting itself. My thanks also go to all those who contributed in some way to the success of this launching of the GFMD process : the Spe- cial Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations on International Migration and Development, the GFMD “focal points”, participating governments, institutions and individuals. Special mention should be made of those, who over many months prepared the roundtable sessions by coordi- nating the session partnerships, drafting working papers and other documents, and those who served as chairs, speakers, dis- cussants and rapporteurs for the roundtable sessions. My appre- ciation goes also to the King Baudouin Foundation, which so ably organized the Civil Society Day. In the end, as I had hoped, the success of this Forum-meeting turned out to be greater than the sum of its participants, which augurs well for the future of the GFMD process. The chairman- ship of the process has now been handed on to the Government 8 acknowledgments of the Philippines. May it continue on behalf of all those migrants, women, men and children, whose lot this process aims to improve. Régine DE CLERCQ Ambassador for Migration and Asylum Policy Belgian Executive Director of the Global Forum on Migration and Development SPECIFIC ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Financial and human resources support : The Republic of Ireland, the Republic of Mali, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of the Philippines, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Swiss Confederation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), the Euro- pean Commission, the Egmont Institute (Belgium), the Interna- tional Organization for Migration (IOM), the MacArthur Foun- dation (USA), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the United Nations High Commis- sioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The King Baudouin Foundation (1) for the organisation of the Civil Society Day. Belgian GFMD Taskforce, support group, permanent representations and embassies : The GFMD Taskforce under the Direction of H.E. Ms Régine De Clercq, Belgian Executive Director of the GFMD : Mr Lans- sine Coulibaly, Mr Rolf K. Jenny, Mr Ciriaco Lagunzad, Mr Bertwin Lussenburg, Mr Romeo Matsas, Mr Albert Moses, Ms Irena Omelaniuk, Ms Véronique de Ryckere and Ms Valérie Van Goethem. The Belgian support group consisted of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister and the offices and administrations of the follow- ing ministries : Federal Public Services of Interior, Finances, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Justice; Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue, Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment as well as the Office of the Secretary of State for European Affairs, the Plan Bureau and the Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism. The support group was of critical importance and particularly inspiring in the initial phase of the process. Special mention (1) The King Baudouin Foundation (KBF) is a Belgian public benefit foundation estab- lished in 1976 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of King Baudouin’s reign. The KBF supports projects and citizens aiming at building a better society. Its objective is to contrib- ute in a sustainable way to justice, democracy and respect for diversity. The KBF is inde- pendent and pluralistic. More information on this foundation is available on http://www.kbs- frb.be. 10 specific acknowledgments needs to be made of Mr Walter Stevens, chief of staff of Minister Karel De Gucht, of Mr Pierre Vaesen, chief of staff of Minister Armand De Decker for his relentless support and his successor Mr Michel Van der Stichele, of Ms Adriana Laskaris, adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, of Ms Isabelle Mazzara, adviser to the Minister of Interior for her contribution to the conceptual work, of Mr Igor Haustrate, Deputy Director-General for Devel- opment Cooperation, and of Mr Bart Verstraeten of the Federal Public Service of Interior who compiled all the answers of the survey on the priorities, with the assistance of Mr Alain Schmidt and Mr Jean-Michel Swalens. Special thanks are also due to the Belgian permanent represen- tations in Geneva and New-York and to all Belgian embassies worldwide for their most efficient assistance. Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations on International Migration and Development : Mr Peter Sutherland, and his advisers : Mr François Fouinat and Mr Gregory Maniatis. Roundtable panellists and general rapporteurs : Mr Youssef Amrani, H.E. Mr Antonio Arenales Forno, Mr Ibrahim Awad, Ms Maria João Azevedo, Ms Rosalinda Baldoz, Mr Luca Barbone, Ms Rachel Bayani, Mr Carlos Rodriguez Bocanegra, Mr Peter Bosch, Ms Anita Bundegaard, Mr Chukwu- Emeka Chikizie, Mr Rene Cristobal, Mr Jeff Dayton Johnson, Mr Jean-Louis De Brouwer, Mr Pedro de Lima, Mr Jozef De Witte, H.E. Prof. Oumar Hammadoun Dicko, Mr Seringe Dieye, Ms Ana Eugenia Duran, Ms Ayse Elif Talu, Mr Ola Henrikson, H.E. Ms Margarita Escobar, Mr Abdelatif Fezzani, Mr Jean-Pierre Garson, Mr Samuel Goagoseb, Mr Diwa C. Guinigundo, Mr Car- los Gonzalez Gutierrez, Mr Shahidul Haque, Mr Igor Haustrate, Ms Renée Jones-Bos, Mr Arun Kashyap, Mr Sefu Kawaya, Ms Michele Klein Solomon, Ms Anne-Françoise Lefevre, Mr Mark Lowcock, H.E. Mr Enrique A. Manalo, Mr Richard Manning, Mr Ali Mansoor, Mr René Mantha, Prof. Philip Martin, Dr. Lester Mejía Solís, Dr. Isaac Mensa-Bonsu, Mr Marin Molosag, Ms Maria Ochoa-Llido, Mr Kevin O’Sullivan, Dr. Ann Phoya, Ms Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen, Dr. Hamidur Rashid, Ms Marjatta Rasi, Mr Dilip Ratha, Ms Marta Rodríguez-Tarduchy, Mr Mari- anito D. Roque, Mr Robertus Rozenburg, Dr. Ken Sagoe, Mr Kaba Sangare, H.E. Mr Manjaiiv Singh Puri, Dr. Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, Ms Patricia Sto. Tomas, Mr Joakim Stymne, Dr. specific acknowledgments 11 Endang Sulistyaningsih, Mr Robert K. Visser, Mr Vincent Wil- liams, Dr. Jean Yan, Ms Tamara Zaballa Utrillas. Contributors on horizontal issues : The Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism (Belgium), the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men (Belgium), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Interna- tional Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN Division for the Advance- ment of Women (UNDAW) and the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Administrative and logistical support : The company Advanced Fair and the following persons in the Belgian Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation : Mr Marc Buys, Ms Aurélie Czekalski, Ms Emilie Detemmerman, Mr Christophe Dhont, Ms Thérèse Kicq, Mr Rudy Lagnaux, Ms Marie-Paule Loontjens, Mr Josse Martin, Ms Petra de Meester, Mr Stéphane Renard, Mr Cristian Reynders, Mr Jérôme Toussaint, Mr Michael Vlamijnck, the persons in charge of the protocol and security, and all the liaison officers for their precious help during the meeting.