The Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) is a state-led, informal, voluntary, and non-binding process, bringing together expertise from all regions and countries at all stages of economic, social and political development.
The stated objectives of the GFMD are to:
- Provide policymakers and practitioners a platform to discuss policies, challenges and opportunities
- Identify information, policy and institutional gaps
- Exchange good practices and experiences
- Establish partnerships and cooperation
- Structure the international priorities and agenda
The GFMD was created during the first UN General Assembly High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development (HLD) in 2006. The GFMD is a process outside of the UN system: dedicated to informal and non-binding, yet action-oriented dialogue. It is a series of meetings and activities.
The GFMD is Chaired by rotating states.
Non-State Mechanism engagement
Alongside the governments who participate in the GFMD, there are three non-state stakeholder mechanisms: the Business Mechanism, the Civil Society Mechanism, and the Mayors Mechanism. The Youth Representation is a transversal component for youth engagement (coordinated by the Migration Youth and Children Platform – MYCP) within all stakeholder groups and governments.
GFMD Outcomes
The GFMD has resulted in many strategic partnerships over the years, and in a sense paved the way for the drafting and adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), following considerable advocacy stemming from the New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants. Another major accomplishment of the GFMD process is the explicit inclusion of migrants and migration in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The GFMD is also where the Migrants in Countries in Crisis (MICIC) Initiative was initially conceptualized.
GFMD Chairs
Each year, the GFMD is chaired and organised by a different host government; to date:
- Belgium (2007)
- The Philippines (2008)
- Greece (2009)
- Mexico (2010)
- Switzerland (2011)
- Mauritius (2012)
- Sweden (2014)
- Turkey (2015)
- Bangladesh (2016)
- Germany (2017)
- Marocco (2018)
- Ecuador (2019)
- United Arab Emirates (UAE) (2020)
- France (2023)
More Information
You can find out more about the GFMD and Civil Society engagement in the following pages: