The 2024-25 Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) process was launched by the Colombian Chairship during an event held on 3 September 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. The ceremony marks the official start of the GFMD agenda for 2024-2025, leading up to the 15th GFMD Summit planned for 2025.

Preparations for the 2024-2025 GFMD process under the Colombian Chairship are in full swing. In July, the GFMD Civil Society Mechanism (CSM), housed by the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), brought together more than 400 civil society organisations for regional consultations on the GFMD’s proposed thematic priorities. The diverse representation, including grassroots civil society, migrant-led organisations, trade unions, diaspora organisations and many more, ensured a wealth of inputs.

Following the regional consultations, the Chair’s programme was finalised and officially launched in early September. Held at the official residence of His Excellency Ambassador Gustavo Gallón, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations in Geneva, the meeting welcomed a wide range of representation from across the GFMD community, including representatives from governments, the three GFMD Mechanisms: Civil Society, Business, and Mayors and the Youth Stakeholder Network, represented by the Migration, Youth and Children Platform (MYCP).

The civil society representatives that were able to attend the launch event in Geneva were:  Helena Olea, Deputy Director for Programs of Alianza Americas, Lala Arabian, Executive Manager of INSAN Association and Cross-Regional Center for Refugees and Migrants, Paddy Siyanga Knudsen, Vice President of the Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism, and Maria Teresa Urueña, from Red Jesuita con Migrantes Latinoamérica y Caribe and Bloque Latinoamericano sobre Migración.

The Colombian Chairship

The Colombian Chairship of the GFMD began in April 2024. At the launch event, Colombia was joined for the opening by representatives of the French and Emirati governments, who previously chaired the GFMD in 2022-2023 and 2020, respectively. Together, they comprise the GFMD Troika, which is composed of the current and two former GFMD Chairs.

The  Colombian Chairship has identified ‘Regular Migration, Labour Mobility and Human Rights: Pillars of Development and Well-Being of Societies’ as the overarching theme for the 2024-25 GFMD, highlighting shared responsibility for the creation and recognition of regular pathways through which migrant workers can become a driving force in the global fight against inequality.

The Chair also presented the six thematic priorities to guide discussions and exchanges for this session:

• Strength in Movement: The Impact of Women on Global Migration and Development.
• Children and Youth on the Move: Innovators for Tomorrow’s Development.
• The Interplay of Media and Culture to Construct and Deconstruct the Reality of Migration.
• Climate Change: Safe Labour Routes as a Bridge to Prosperity.
• Regional Cooperation and Integration to Promote Safe and Regular Migration for Development.
• New Technologies and Digitalization: Improving Migration Management and Regular Migration Pathways.

Contributions from the GFMD Mechanisms highlighted the importance of human rights, labour migration, and regular pathways as the three key pillars of the GFMD process for 2024-25. They welcomed the Colombian Chairship’s focus on creating impacts on the ground and shifting migration narratives in what is currently a tense global political and social climate.

’’There is a lot of excitement in civil society, and I really want to thank Colombia for being a very inclusive, transparent, and open chair leading indeed a very transparent consultation process,’’ said Mr. Stéphane Jaquemet, the ICMC Chief Operations Officer and Director of Policy. ’’We need more countries on board; there is a long tradition to count on a limited number of countries. We need more countries, and we also need more dialogue between the permanent missions, which are always very engaged, and the Capitol, the line ministries in charge of migration.’’

The agenda for 2024-2025 counts with an innovative format of 6 roundtable consultations that aim to refresh the dialogue space and facilitate informal exchange of knowledge and networking opportunities. The civil society agenda will also feed into this dialogue space, with activities planned for global civil society to share their input into each of the 6 thematic priorities.

If you are interested in learning more about how to engage with the 2024-2025 GFMD civil society process, subscribe to our newsletter here and reach out to us at gfmdcivilsociety@icmc.net if you have any questions.