Greetings from Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA). We hope all goes well with you. We are writing to send you a number of updates on the preparations for the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. Please find below updates on on-going consultations and upcoming activities in line with the preparations for the Global
Compact on Migration.

IOM’s International Dialogue on Migration (IDM)

This week the International Dialogue on Migration (IDM) organized by IOM will take place in New York, USA, on 18-19 April 2017 with the theme: Strengthening international cooperation on and governance of migration towards the adoption of a global compact on migration in 2018. IOM’s IDM in 2017 will focus on core aspects of
the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. The second IDM will be on 18-19 July in Geneva and will offer Member States and other relevant actors the opportunity to explore protection of and assistance for migrants in vulnerable situations from a policy, cooperation and practical perspective.

This week’s IDM will discuss international cooperation on and governance of migration with a view to identifying concrete elements, models and potential actionable commitments for the global compact. The workshop will facilitate exchange on the following aspects, among others:

• Implementation of the migration-related SDG targets
• Whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches to migration
• Strengthening migration governance capacities for the protection of migrants at risk, for facilitating labour migration, and for arrangements for return and reintegration consistent with international standards
• Existing and envisaged cooperation and follow-up mechanisms aimed at facilitating safe, orderly and regular migration

We are sharing with you the concept note agenda of the IDM. MFA’s regional coordinator, William Gois was requested by IOM to act as a moderator for one of the sessions for the second day on the topic: promoting a whole-of-society approach to good migration governance. We will share with you the report and outcome of the IDM
in our next circular.

Civil Society Informal Meeting on the Global Compact on Migration In Conjunction with the International Dialogue on Migration

A civil society informal meeting on the Global Compact on Migration was held prior to the IDM. The CSO informal meeting aimed to present updates on the Global Compact process, how CSOs can engage in the process in particular the regional consultations that will be organized around the global compact.

MFA was not able to attend the CSO informal meeting however we shared updates about our work in the region concerning our preparations on the global compact. We are sharing with you as attachment to this message notes from the meeting. Please note that the attached documentation is not official proceedings as it shared to us by
partners from Oxfam. A lot of information focused on the process of applying to attend the consultations for the global compact.

We are also sharing with you the documents distributed during the meeting where the dates of regional consultations have been identified. In Asia the consultations will be led by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The dates for the Asia preparatory meetings are below:

• Regional Preparatory Meeting organized by ESCAP: 6-8 November 2017, Bangkok, Thailand
• Regional Preparatory Meting organized by ESCWA: Beirut, Lebanon, 26-28 September 2017

Application for 8-9 May Thematic Session in Geneva & Stakeholder Steering Committee: UNGA preparatory process for a global compact for migration

We are also forwarding the announcement for the application for the Thematic Session in Geneva for the preparatory process for the global compact on migration. Please find below the information for application for organizations who are interested to participate.

The application is open to civil society organizations, diaspora organizations, migrant organizations, academic institutions, private sector entities, and National Human Rights Institutions.

We will be sharing more updates on the global compact on migration process in our next circular. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
MFA Secretariat