As policy makers and global leaders look for more manageable and flexible structures, while also ensuring the protection of migrant rights, Conversations on the Global Governance of Migration (GGM) aims to contribute to the dialogue, by convening representatives and policy-makers among States, civil society, international organizations and other relevant stakeholders for an informal exchange on the diverse elements associated with global migration flows and approaches.

“Over the past decade”, notes ICMC Special Advisor to the Secretary General, Ambassador Sergio Marchi, “we have seen an important and continuing increase in transnational efforts by governments, international organizations and civil society to maximize the opportunities of global migration, while addressing its challenges. We now sense the growing determination to move this process to the next stage; the GGM represents one means of doing that”.

ICMC welcomed Ambassador Marchi to the organisation’s headquarters in Geneva in September 2009. Having formerly served as Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, as well as International Trade and Environment; Canadian Ambassador to the UN and WTO; and Commissioner on the Global Commission on International Migration, Ambassador Marchi will facilitate the first phase of the GGM.

At the conclusion of the GGM outreach and roundtable discussions, the perspectives and suggestions presented for possible future approaches will be published and distributed. ICMC hopes that this will further stimulate the public discourse on the global governance of migration, facilitate a number of relevant benchmarks, and encourage decision makers to take up its cause with appropriate urgency.

For more information on the Conversations on the Global Governance of Migration project, and to contribute your ideas and proposals, please email GGM@icmc.net<.

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For further information, please contact Alanna RYAN, Communications Officer, + 41 22 919 10 36; ryan@icmc.net<