Side Event at the 14th GFMD Summit: How Civil Society is Shifting Migration Narratives

The GMFD Civil Society Mechanism, in collaboration with the United States of America, the GMFD Working Group on Public Narratives on Migration and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) invites all GFMD Summit delegates to a side event on multi-dimensional and multi-stakeholder partnerships in balancing public perceptions about migration and migrants.

đź”´ Objective: By combining the element of partnership with ethical storytelling, the side-event aims to highlight how actions and multi-stakeholder initiatives can be translated into words, images and actions that are true to migrants’ stories and realities. Case studies and best practices from projects around the world using different forms of partnerships and communication tools will be presented to give migrants the platform to have their voices heard.

Details of the side event:

📅 Date: Thursday, 25 January 202 ⌚ Time: 12:00 – 13:3 📍Venue: Room E, CICG, Geneva

Interpretation in English, French and Spanish will be available.

Read the Concept Note
Preview the Agenda

Have a look at our speakers:

Marta Youth, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) (USA)

Marta Youth joined the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) as Deputy Assistant Secretary in November 2020, and assumed the role of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in April 2022. She has responsibility for humanitarian assistance programs and also oversees the Office of International Migration. Ms. Youth was previously the Director of Central American Affairs in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.  Prior assignments include Director of the Office of Europe, Central Asia, and the Americas in PRM from 2017 to 2019; Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy Managua, Nicaragua from 2014 to 2017; and Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada from 2011 to 2014.  She also worked at the U.S. Embassy in Quito, Ecuador as Press Attaché from 2008 to 2011.  Ms. Youth also served overseas at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, Spain as a Trade Officer from 2000 to 2004 and at the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, India as a Consular Officer from 1992 to 1994. During her State Department career additional Washington, DC assignments included Country Assistance Coordinator for Russia and Moldova, South Africa Desk Officer, and Portugal, Malta, and Vatican City Desk Officer.  She has also been assigned twice to the State Department’s Economic and Business Affairs Bureau.

Stephanie Leung, GMFD Working Group on Public Narratives on Migration and Government of Canada

Stephanie Leung is the Director for International Migration Policy, in the International Affairs Branch, of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). She leads on Canada’s international multilateral engagement on migration, key international migration policies, and Canada-United States engagement on migration.

Previously, from 2010-2021, she held various positions at IRCC, including Canada’s engagement in the OECD Working Party on Migration, horizontal and strategic policy and planning, Federal Budget coordination, Gender-based Analysis Plus, immigration levels planning, and serving as advisor to the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Strategic and Program Policy Sector.

Prior to joining IRCC in 2010, Ms. Leung worked at the Government of Canada’s Privy Council Office, Treasury Board Secretariat, Finance Canada, and Health Canada.

Ms. Leung holds a Master of Philosophy degree in International Relations from Oxford University (UK), a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Queen’s University (Canada), and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science and International Relations from the University of British Columbia (Canada).

Julien Simon, International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD)

Mr. Julien Simon – Head of Mediterranean Region and Head of Regional Office for the Mediterranean, International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).

Held various positions since starting at ICMPD in 2001. Worked at ICMPD Headquarters in Vienna, ICMPD Brussels Mission, and moved to Malta in 2016 where he set up ICMPD’s first regional office for the Mediterranean.

Passionate about migration in all its diversity, dedicated to international cooperation and driven by innovation, developed novel initiatives such as the interactive map on migration (iMap), the Mediterranean Migration Media Award, the Mediterranean-City-to-City-Migration, and most recently the Migration Capacity Partnerships for the Mediterranean (MCP Med) and oversaw the inauguration of the MCP Med Training Institute. Advocate for diaspora engagement, currently developing the concept of the Year of the European Diaporas for European Identity (YED 4 EID).

Oversees ICMPD’s presence and actions in the Mediterranean region, including the Regional office in Valletta, and Field Offices in Amman, Beirut, Tripoli and Tunis.

French national. Married. Two children.

Corinne Hyubers, City of Mechlen

Corinne Huybers (23/05/1982, she/her) has a master’s degree in African Languages and Cultures from the University of Ghent (UGent) and a postgraduate in Conflict & Development (UGent). Corinne has a long working experience in the field of migration, integration, inclusion, diversity, equal opportunities. She started working for the city of Mechelen as a project officer at the Integration service in 2007, and in 2012 became policy officer and Programme Manager Diversity & Inclusion. She is responsible for strategy development on diversity & equal opportunities within the city and coordinates the programmes and the action plans on diversity & inclusion. She has a wide local, regional, national, European and international network and participates in several networks and European Projects (a.o. UA partnership on inclusion, GFMD working group on narratives, European Coalition of Cities against Racism).

Christina Pope, Welcoming America

Christina Pope is Senior Director of Welcoming International, an initiative of Welcoming America that supports and connects civil society and government institutions advancing migrant inclusion around the world. She heads the Welcoming International Alliance of national networks, builds learning exchange opportunities, and provides technical assistance to institutions driving policy, program, and system change towards a more equitable future.

Previously, Christina led Welcoming America’s national network of 300 local governments and non-profits in the United States. Her background is in community development and international education, including prior roles in higher education administration and migrant services provision. She was a Fulbright fellow in Recife, Brazil. Based in St. Louis, USA, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in comparative literature and American studies from Oberlin College. Christina’s family migrated to the U.S. from Portugal and Romania, and their stories motivate her in this work.

Etaf Roudan,  World Association for Christian Communication (WACC)

Etaf is Deputy Manager of Community Media Network (CMN) of Jordan. Since 2018, CMN has been running a community radio program entitled “Syrians among Us” produced by members of the Syrian diaspora living in Jordan to give a public voice to this highly vulnerable community.

Etaf has over two decades of experience in development and community media, empowerment work through the media, media training, advocacy campaigns, and policy-oriented research. She has been a speaker on development and women’s rights at several national and international conferences. In 2013, she received an award on her investigative journalism work from Arab Reporters. In 2020, she received the Women Editorial Leadership Award for Women in News for the Arab Region from the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). She holds a bachelor’s degree in law and is a board member for the International Press Institute (IPI).

Nathalie Porte, E-Graine

Nathalie Porte is the head of national programmes and projects of e-graine. She dedicated her career to humanitarian and social activities working mostly with displaced populations. She joined the mouvement e-graine in 2018 to launch the national pedagogical programme “One World Citizen ” which aims at fostering a sense of belonging to our common humanity. This programme contributed to question narratives surrounding migration for thousands of people in France and in Europe through exhibitions, workshops, videos or intercultural encounters.

Nermin Ahman, NGO Committee on Migration

Nermin Ahmad, born Pakistani in Turkey, passed through Bangladeshi to German and now American citizenship, has worked for 35 years in environmental planning, resilience building and adaptation across Africa, Europe, the Americas and parts of Asia. A stakeholder engagement specialist, she has focused on the power of narratives, from different segments of society, to ensure that local voices are heard and acted upon. Her guidance for Afghan Women Refugees in the US helped many asylum seekers settle more rapidly, with less difficulty, and preferred jobs. Her on-going work for Women on the Move is intended to recognize and build structures to help wives, mothers and daughters better adapt to rapidly evolving situations in their homes – regardless of reason (climate, conflict, corruption, or other). Educated in the US, France, the UK and South Africa, Nermin is gifted in meeting individuals where they are, and understanding where they are not being heard. As a professional planner, she develops brief action-oriented and results-focused plans for implementation, backed by traditional plans used for information.

Paddy Siyanga Knudsen, Global Forum on Research and Transnationalism (GRFDT)

Paddy Siyanga Knudsen is a Zambian national with over 17 years of professional experience as a Development Economist. She holds a Master in Financial Economics from SOAS and BSc Development & Economics from London School of Economics. Her work covers development cooperation, regional integration and migration governance. Her experience includes supporting governments, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), bilateral development partners, EU institutions, Civil society as well as UN agencies in engagement strategies, research, programme formulation, implementation as well as monitoring and evaluation.

On migration governance, she has worked with IOM, UNESCO, UNHCR, EU, civil society, foundations and diaspora organisations in continental Europe, Jordan, China, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe as well as other assignments in West, East and Southern Africa. Her areas of interest in migration governance include labour migration, migration and development as well as diaspora engagement. She is a Vice President of the Global Research Forum on Diaspora & Transnationalism, member of GFMD civil society International steering committee, UN network on migration worksrteams on remittances/Diaspora as well as Indicators. She also coordinates the African nonstate actors platform on GFMD/GCM.