Rabat, June 13, 2022 - The second Global Programme Board meeting was held and was hosted by the government of the Kingdom of Morocco as part of the IOM-UNDP Global Programme on Making Migration Work for Sustainable Development (M4SD), which is funded by Switzerland through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Over 60 experts in the fields of migration, human mobility, and development, including representatives from national and local governments, UN agencies, donors, the private sector, and civil society organizations, gathered on 13th  and 14th  June to discuss progress made, future plans, and ideas for leveraging migration to further the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A long-running initiative to pioneer a more integrated methodology for migration governance, advance policy coherence, and foster greater benefits for communities, in line with national and local development priorities, is now in phase III with the IOM-UNDP Global Programme, which was launched in 2019. The Program demonstrates how integrating migration into sectoral and development policies yields results on the ground that directly support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, bridging the gap between policy and practice. To do this and promote new opportunities for immigrants and all members of the community through greater education, employment, health, and social security, concrete programs with a focus on scalability and increased government ownership are being implemented.

The Global Programme emphasizes multi-stakeholder involvement and places mobility at the center of our Global Goals by taking a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. Experts were also debating a variety of crucial issues that will advance knowledge of the connections between migration management and sustainable development, such as how countries have incorporated migration into their policies, promoted gender-responsive and inclusive approaches, ensured equal access to health, education, employment, and other opportunities, and empowered migrants as business owners, employees, and agents of change. Disaggregated migration data and coordination between various policies and services, at the national and local levels, with diaspora, migrants' groups, and the private sector are other topics of discussion. These approaches ensure evidence-based programming and policy making.

Participating countries are Bangladesh, Ecuador, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Morocco, Nepal, Philippines, Senegal, Serbia, Tunisia.

Svetlana Velimirovic, Deputy Commissioner at SCRM, who led the Serbian delegation, presented country vision for the future of Migration and Development work and experience of Serbia on migration data collection practices and development of migration profiles for policy development on the first day of the Global Programme Board meeting.

The representatives of local governments of Ivanjica, Prokuplje and Knjazevac shared their experiences and challenges during the thematic session on Employment: Laveraging the private sector for employment opportunities of migrant and host populations.

The IOM-UNDP Global Programme on Making Migration Work for Sustainable Development aims to harness the development benefits and reduce the negative effects of migration for host and home communities, migrants and their family members to support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is a 4-year programe running from November 2019 to October 2023 and implemented in 11 countries. The Global Programme is funded by Switzerland through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).  and implemented jointly by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

For more information on this topic, please contact:: mpetrovic@iom.int or tcesto@iom.int.