More progress needed on migration governance if SDGs are to be achieved by 2030, IOM urges

The United Nations High-level Political Forum (HLPF) – the biggest gathering of governments, business and civil society leaders to review progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – will be convened from 9 – 18 July 2019. This will be the 4th HLPF since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015.

With emerging evidence suggesting that the international community must dramatically accelerate action to meet all the SDGs by 2030, this year’s HLPF provides a special platform to strengthen multilateralism and to demonstrate how our working together can generate practical solutions that ultimately deliver benefits and results where it matters most: in the lives of all people.

For IOM, this means recognizing that we cannot achieve the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs without due consideration of migrants and migration. It means recognizing that how we govern migration can be the difference between positive and negative development outcomes. One the one hand, migrants can – in the right conditions – make significant economic, social and cultural contributions to communities of origin and destination. On the other hand, if migration is poorly managed, it can negatively impact development; migrants can be put at risk, communities can come under strain, and development gains can be jeopardized.

Ensuring that we maximize the benefits of migration while addressing its downsides, requires strong policies and institutional frameworks, clear objectives and a long-term perspective. This, in turn, means that all governments should continually prioritize migration in national and global policy agendas, as a promise for advancing human development around the world.

The HLPF is an opportunity to reinforce this message, and to reinvigorate action to ensure that migrants are not left behind. This year, IOM will highlight the importance of migration to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda by hosting a side event titled “Migration Governance Indicators for Well-managed Migration: An Evidence-based Approach to Global Commitments” on 17 July.

The event will focus on the experience of the countries and cities that participated in the Migration Governance Indicators (MGI) assessment, a tool for governments to take stock of the different structures and initiatives they have in place to manage migration, identify good practices and gaps and establish new priorities.

Original source: IOM
Published on 07 July 2019