Manila, Philippines – Migrant Forum in Asia held the Asian Consultaion for the Global Forum on Migration and Development on 15-16 June 2007 in Manila, Philippines. The consultation brought together key migration and development groups and migrant workers in Asia to coordinate and jointly strategize efforts and plans towards the 1st Global Forum on Migration and Development which will happen on 11-12 July 2007 in Brussels, Belgium. KEY OBJECTIVES

• To bring together the key migration and development organizations, NGOs, networks, advocates and civil society groups in Asia to coordinate and jointly strategize efforts relating to the GFMD in Brussels, Belgium on 9-11 July 2007;
• To update and de-brief interested Asian civil society groups on the status and progress of the GFMD;
• To broaden the consensus, and strengthen the key positions and advocacy agendas on migration and development submitted by Asian migrant groups and civil society organizations to the 2007 GFMD;
• To facilitate and promote greater participation and self-representation by migrant unions and organizations in the GFMD CSO Forum on Migration and Development;
• To come up with a basis for common agreement / position paper on the migration and development discourse and
• To discuss how CSO can maximize participation at the GFMD CSO forum and the CSO parallel event in Brussels

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS

• Global community dialogue on migration, development and human rights – a CSO parallel event to the UN HLD (13-Sept-06)
• Statement Highlights from Asian and Middle Eastern countries during the UN HLD
• Summary of statements of member states from Asia and Middle Eastern countries during the UN HLD
• Asian consultation process in preparation for the UN High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development (17-August-06)
• Chairperson’s Summary of the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PROGRAM

• CONFERENCE STATEMENT
• DELIBERATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

BACK-TO-BACK ACTIVITIES

14 June

Field Visits to Initiatives being undertaken on migrant savings or investments being channeled towards social enterprise development (For The Hague Process Participants)

15-16 June
Asian Consultation for Global Forum on Migration and Development 2007

17-18 June
Asian Domestic Workers Assembly

19 June
Philippine Consortium on Migration and Development (PHILCOMDEV) General Assembly

For inquiries, please contact:

William Gois

Migrant Forum in Asia
Fax: +63-2-4331292
Email: mfa@pacific.net.hk