Stockholm, 10 May 2014 (ICMC) - Civil Society delegates have begun to arrive in Stockholm for the 2014 Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), being hosted and chaired this year by the government of Sweden. The GFMD takes places from 12 - 16 May in the Münchenbryggeriet Conference Center. The Forum consists of two days of civil society meetings (12 - 13 May) followed by a full afternoon of shared civil society-government Common Space (14 May), leading to the two final days of the week for government meetings (15 - 16 May). A record number of 250 representatives of civil society organizations worldwide will participate as delegates in this year's civil society days, nearly double the number at the preceding Global Forum meeting in 2012.

Snapshot:
what’s new about the GFMD Civil Society Days 2014

• A record number of applications from civil society organizations (800)
• A record number of delegates selected to participate (250) 
• Civil society Chair and Co-chair and their organizations demonstrating the convergence of migrant rights and diaspora and development agenda's, and imperative and benefits of engaging with local authorities and private sector 
• Launch of the civil society "MADE" (Migration And Development) network, with regional organizing in Africa, Asia and Latin America-the Caribbean, and global thematic focus on labour mobility and recruitment, global governance of migration and development, and diaspora, migrants and development (the MADE website is under construction, click here for the temporary website). 
• Common space increased with 25% time, with civil society moderating as well as presenting and participating 
• New donors: the European Union, Australia and Germany.

Civil Society Days ready for lift off

Under the leadership of its GFMD 2014 Chair Michele LeVoy and Co-chair Gibril Faal (see biographies here)< civil society kicks off the week of meetings with its two "Civil Society Days". Organizing its own agenda as in the past three years, civil society emphasizes: the human being at the centre of migration; respect for his or her dignity and rights; decent work and social protection for migrant workers and their families; fair, orderly and regular migration as an alternative to abuse of migrants in transit and in the workplace; and the empowerment of migrants and diaspora as members and actors of societies in countries of destination and origin.

 This year’s Civil Society Programme focuses on “Shaping Migration and Development Goals: global movement, change on the ground”. The theme reflects civil society’s priority for the 2014 GFMD to translate the outcomes of last year’s High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, and civil society’s 5-year 8-point action plan into concrete goals, targets and indicators, aiming very much for local implementation, practices and change. Special focuses in civil society’s programme this year are:

Migrants and migration in the new post 2015 development agenda when the current Millennium Development Goals expire (MDGs);
Reform of migrant recruitment practices; Strengthening practical cooperation in responses to migrants in crisis, in transit and at borders;
Migrant children in detention; and Migrant and diaspora’s as actors and advocates in development and job creation.

The Civil Society Days programme as well as a short background note are available here.<

Live Streaming

The plenary sessions of the GFMD Civil Society Days will be streamed live through Youtube. The links to the live stream will be announced before the start of the conference on this webpage: GFMD Civil Society Days information<