Newsletter Special Issue – Invitation to apply for the 2012 GFMD Civil Society Days

Applications invited for the 2012 GFMD Civil Society Days, 19 -21 November, Mauritius

Application Deadline: 08 July

Geneva 16 May 2012 – Application for participation by civil society representatives in the Civil Society Days of this year's Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) opened today.

The online application form can be accessed here:

http://www.gfmdcivilsociety.org/application

Upon having received many requests, the deadline for application has been extended one more time until the 8th of July 2012.

The Civil Society Days of the 6th Global Forum on Migration and Development will take place on 19 and 20 November 2012 in Mauritius. A shared session with government and civil society representatives is scheduled for the morning of the 21st of November, followed by the government Summit through the rest of 21 and 22 November.

Application to the Civil Society Days 2012 is open to all sectors of civil society, including diaspora and migrant organizations, human rights and development groups, labour unions and representatives from academia and the private sector. 150 - 200 delegates will be selected from the applications with a maximum of one per organization. An International Advisory Committee of civil society representatives will organize selection on the basis of sectoral, geographic, and gender diversity, and relevant experience and knowledge on migration and development issues. Applicants will be notified by the second week of August whether they are selected to participate.

Being selected does not mean there will be funding available to support the participant! Unfortunately only very limited funding is expected to be available to support the participation of civil society delegates. Selected delegates are encouraged to look for funding opportunities to support their participation!

A brief update from ICMC’s Civil Society Coordinating Office for the GFMD

Civil Society reports to governments at their second 2012 meeting of the Friends of the Forum

On 27 April governments gathered in Geneva for the second Friends of the Forum meeting under the Chairmanship of the Mauritian government. ICMC’s Civil Society Coordinating Office presented a report to the meeting. The presentation announced the publication of the final Civil Society report of 2011 to serve “as an action plan for the year rather than a memoire for the files: a driver for concrete follow-up on recommendations and a basis for building coherent next steps into civil society’s own concept paper for 2012.”

The report also presented the main elements of civil society’s own concept paper for the GFMD Civil Society Programme of 2012. As civil society develops its program the focus is expected to be on operational models, partnerships and actions along these four tracks previously pursued:

• labour mobility and matching
• migrants/diaspora and development
• protection of the rights of migrants and their families; and
• the global governance of migration and development – including a major focus on prospects and preparation for the UN High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development.

The coming weeks are dedicated to wide consultations with civil society partners on further developing the concept paper. If you are interested in being included in these consultations, please let us know at: contact@gfmdcivilsociety.org

Find the full civil society presentation to the Friends of the Forum here