April 2024 marked the official start of the Colombian Chairship of the GFMD, which will officially last until December 2025. The Chair has chosen three overarching pillars: human rights, labour migration, and regular pathways, as well as six thematic priorities (with the corresponding Co-Chairs):
‘Sociedad Civil en Rumbo a Colombia’: Civil Society at the heart of the GFMD
The above six thematic priorities present the opportunity to explore some important dimensions of migration. However, a truly inclusive approach would not be possible without the participation of civil society in each step of the GFMD process. Civil society working on the ground to improve the conditions of migrants brings to the fore the contributions of all migrants as essential stakeholders. For this reason, the six thematic priorities represent a key entry point for civil society to engage actively in these discussions, bringing their expertise, actions and knowledge of migration dynamics in various regional, political and social contexts. In this regard, the GFMD Civil Society Mechanism has developed working methods for civil society on these thematic priorities, providing the space to exchange lessons learned and propose substantive action to governments and other stakeholders within the GFMD process.
As one of the official stakeholders, civil society will have the opportunity to actively contribute through consultations, recommendations and advocacy. One of the key features of the 2024-2025 civil society preparatory process is a renewed emphasis on the GFMD as a process, moving beyond the Summit itself.
Civil society can engage in the preparatory process, known as ‘Sociedad Civil en Rumbo a Colombia’ (Civil Society on the Road to Colombia), in three ways:
- By engaging in civil society thematic dialogues, hosted by both the CSM as well as member organisations / networks, which collect the expertise of civil society, including trade unions and grassroots organisations, for collective input and commonalities into each of the thematic priorities.
- By hosting self-organised activities: The CSM invites civil society to establish dialogues that speak to the realities of migrants and grassroots organisations on the ground. The outcomes of these dialogues can be brought into the civil society collective advocacy. These may include: (1) National level dialogues, (2) Workshops on the GFMD, and (3) multi-stakeholder dialogues.
- By engaging in the civil society small thematic strategy groups: The strategy-focused thematic working groups are small working groups made up of civil society experts on all six thematic priorities, who would like to take a more active role and commitment towards shaping collective civil society strategic advocacy. Members of the strategy groups have two key responsibilities: (1) guide strategy engagement by identifying opportunities to share GFMD inputs either directly with governments and/or into other relevant migration spaces and (2) help brief and prepare CS representatives for each GFMD Roundtable, to ensure they are taking forward the advocacy messages contributed by all CS.
Throughout the Chairship, our Civil Society Mechanism will continue to propose activities for civil society with ongoing updates on the website. To continue following the activities of the GFMD and receive updates, please subscribe to our newsletter.
For any questions, please reach out to: gfmdcivilsociety@icmc.net
Explore all the resources on the GFMD process: