GENEVA, 5 June 2014 (ICMC) - John Bingham, ICMC Head of Policy, spoke today at the UN on the leadership role of the International Labour Migration (ILO) in promoting fair migration governance and coordinating with civil society.Read more<
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. Read more<
GENEVA, 12 May 2014 (ICMC) - Today, the UN counts 232 million people as international migrants. Labour mobility has become a key feature of globalization and the global economy – with migrant workers sending over US$ 600 billion to their home countries in 2013. Nevertheless, many migrant workers remain vulnerable and take on significant risks during the migration process.Read more<
TANZANIA, 28 March 2014 (ICMC) – It was during my time as a resettlement expert that I first heard of the challenges faced by albino refugees in Nyarugusu Camp, Tanzania. Believed to have magic powers, albinos in this region are often attacked and sometimes killed, despite efforts by the Government to end such violent practices.
I work in Nyarugusu camp located in Kasulu district, Kigoma Province in western Tanzania close to the Burundi border. The camp hosts over 68,909 refugees, mostly from Burundi and the Congo. Many refugees in the camp are extremely vulnerable as they have witnessed and experienced horrible forms of violence and torture in their home countries; including seeing family members killed in front of their eyes. After so many years in exile, refugees are often unable to trace loved ones and feel they cannot return home.Read more<
MALAYSIA, 27 March 2014 (ICMC) – “A lot of women suffer from Gender Based Violence (GBV), but they don’t know how to ask for help. People don’t understand that survivors should be helped instead of blamed. We must change what we can now, only then will women gain equality and respect,” said Iang Chin Par, a Burmese refugee living in Malaysia and a member of the ICMC Refugee Women’s Protection Corps (RWPC).
The RWPC was formed by ICMC more than four years ago and has since served as the foundation of ICMC work and community-based approach to prevent and respond to GBV amongst Burmese refugees in Malaysia. With generous financial support from the US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (BPRM), ICMC staff mentors, supervises and coordinates a group of around twenty RWPC volunteers from the Burmese refugee community to better address harmful gender inequalities.Read more<
GENEVA, 14 March 2014 (ICMC) - Almost 800 civil society representatives have applied to take part in this year’s Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) Civil Society Days<, which will take place in Stockholm on 12-13 May. With the application process now closed, the International Advisory Committee, comprised of 35 civil society organizations from all around the world, is selecting 200 representatives to participate in the GFMD. Selection will be based on sectoral, and geographic, as well as representavity of the organization, relevant experience and knowledge on migration and development issues.Read more<
BRUSSELS, 14 March 2014 (ICMC) - It is always thrilling to start a new project, and even more so when that entails deepening collaboration with partners from all over the world. For ICMC and other civil society organizations working within ICMC’s new Migration And DEvelopment network, in short, “MADE”, much of the excitement comes from the opportunity to more consistently partner with and complement existing civil society groups.
With co-funding from the European Commission, ICMC Europe opened up a new office for these purposes in Brussels in January 2014.
Taking the lead is MADE Program Coordinator Wies Maas, who has worked with ICMC as senior programme manager on migration and development since 2011 in both Geneva and in New York.Read more<
Allow me a rather self evident and simple starting point to introduce some of the thinking: if we seek to define sustainable development goals for the post 2015 agenda, there is a need to agree on what is really pursued. It is a simple but challenging starting point, and may well require leaving behind some of the logics of the existing Millenium Development Goals (MDG’s).
Development is generally pictured in terms of economic processes and economic growth. Economic growth tends to be explained and monitored through figures and statistics which may indeed allow for comparisons between e.g. Gross National Product levels of different nations and over time. It also introduces the ‘1.5 dollar a day’ poverty definition but we will all agree that this is about monitoring growth with numbers almost alone: a limited and rather materialistic approach which has not proved to be satisfactory to fully measure development and which certainly is not conclusive to properly define ‘poverty’.Read more<
The High-level Dialogue (HLD) on International Migration and Development has not left children behind but, as the tragedy of Lampedusa was there to remind policymakers, a lot remains to be done, indicating the high relevance of the coordinated efforts by civil society organizations (CSOs).
Civil society brought to the HLD on 3 and 4 of October 2013 a unity message, one carved out of national and regional consultations. This has included an eight-point agenda to work with governments over a five-year period,2 and which brings about substantive change, to demonstrate commitments and to bring an end to the globalization of indifference.Read more<
BRUSSELS, 20 February 2014 (ICMC) - The UN refugee agency believes that resettlement is the only solution for 691,000 refugees around the world. Resettlement offers refugees living in protracted situations the chance to enjoy a secure life with rights and opportunities, and refugees in emergency situations to escape danger, access medical treatment and live in safety.
Yet resettlement goes far beyond simply moving to a third state; it also involves being received and integrated within a new society. For resettlement to be a truly durable solution, host countries must offer refugees the reception and integration they need to settle into their new homes, neighbourhoods and societies.Read more<
GENEVA, 14 March 2014 (ICMC) - Almost 800 civil society representatives have applied to take part in this year’s Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) Civil Society Days<, which will take place in Stockholm on 12-13 May. With the application process now closed, the International Advisory Committee, comprised of 35 civil society organizations from all around the world, is selecting 200 representatives to participate in the GFMD. Selection will be based on sectoral, and geographic, as well as representavity of the organization, relevant experience and knowledge on migration and development issues.Read more<
BRUSSELS, 14 March 2014 (ICMC) - It is always thrilling to start a new project, and even more so when that entails deepening collaboration with partners from all over the world. For ICMC and other civil society organizations working within ICMC’s new Migration And DEvelopment network, in short, “MADE”, much of the excitement comes from the opportunity to more consistently partner with and complement existing civil society groups.
With co-funding from the European Commission, ICMC Europe opened up a new office for these purposes in Brussels in January 2014.
Taking the lead is MADE Program Coordinator Wies Maas, who has worked with ICMC as senior programme manager on migration and development since 2011 in both Geneva and in New York.Read more<
Brussels, 12 March 2014 (ECRE) – The International Catholic Migration Commission, as part of the ECRE <coalition of more than 100 NGOs across Europe, has launched Europe Act Now< calling on European leaders to protect refugees fleeing the Syrian war.
To date, just 81,000 Syrians have sought protection in the EU, Norway and Switzerland; representing only three percent of the total number of those who have fled. With a death toll of 130,000 and refugee numbers expected to escalate to four million by the end of 2014, this war marks one of the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time.Read more<
GENEVA, 5 March 2014 (ICMC) - Migration significantly contributed to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by raising incomes, funding investment in education and health care, supporting the creation of businesses and jobs; contributing to the transfer of knowledge, skills and ideas, and promoting investments and trade flows between countries of origin, transit and destination.
The current 8 MDGs, however, are set to expire in 2015 and are silent on migration issues. For this reason ICMC coordinated an important meeting on the second day of the annual session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva to advocate for the inclusion of migrants and diaspora and their issues in the Post-2015 Development Agenda.Read more<
BRUSSELS, 20 February 2014 (ICMC) - The UN refugee agency believes that resettlement is the only solution for 691,000 refugees around the world. Resettlement offers refugees living in protracted situations the chance to enjoy a secure life with rights and opportunities, and refugees in emergency situations to escape danger, access medical treatment and live in safety.
Yet resettlement goes far beyond simply moving to a third state; it also involves being received and integrated within a new society. For resettlement to be a truly durable solution, host countries must offer refugees the reception and integration they need to settle into their new homes, neighbourhoods and societies.Read more<
JORDAN, 13 February 2014 (ICMC) - Ibtissam al Muhammad, a 26 year old mother from Deraa, Syria, fled to Jordan with her two small children. With little income, she struggles hard to protect her young family from harsh winter conditions.
After her arrival in Jordan, Ibtissam decided to bring her children to live with her mother-in-law in Sahkrah, a small place in Irbid, not far from the Syrian border.…… ‘Sahkra is full of Syrian refugees’, Ibtissam says,’ it feels more like home because not only is my mother in law here, but also because a few of my cousins from Deraa settled here’Read more<
ICMC advocates for a safe and open Europe
GENEVA, 10 February 2014 (ICMC) - The 'Stockholm Programme,' the European Union’s current strategic guidelines on migration policies, asylum and internal security, is set to be replaced by a new set of procedures that European heads of state will adopt in June. To feed into the new guidelines, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström hosted a consultation in Brussels last week, gathering representatives of EU countries, the European Parliament and national parliaments, other EU institutions, international organizations, civil society organizations such as ICMC, academics and researchers.Read more<
JORDAN, 7 February 2014 (ICMC) – This week, ICMC Amman successfully completed its EU-funded winterization project in Jordan for Syrian refugees. Despite a country-wide shortage, ICMC identified reliable suppliers that were able to deliver the badly needed heaters and gas cylinders, during one of the coldest winters in many years.
For the second year in a row, with the funding support from the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), ICMC was among the very first NGOs in Jordan to complete winterization and successfully provide 825 vulnerable Syrian and Jordanian families with a gas heater, gas cylinder and 11 re-fill vouchers in the chilly wind-swept governorate of Ajloun.Read more<
GENEVA, 7 January 2014 – UNICEF, UNHCR, Save the Children, World Vision and other partners today called for governments, aid agencies and members of the public to become champions for the children of Syria and support a "No Lost Generation" strategy to protect a generation of Syrian children from a life of despair, diminished opportunities and broken futures.
Through the US$1 billion strategy, the organizations are focusing donor and public support on critical education and protection programmes to lift Syrian children out of misery, isolation and trauma. The strategy is being publically unveiled one week ahead of a major donor conference in Kuwait for humanitarian aid for SyriaRead more<
Al Mafraq, Jordan, 25 November 2013 (ICMC) – The International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) is betting on community involvement to help isolated Syrian women and girls in Northern Jordan better access social services available and face the many challenges of refugee life.Read more<
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