About Us

History

The UN Secretary-General at the September 2006 General Assembly High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development (HLD) proposed the creation of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, GFMD. It is a voluntary, inter-governmental, non-binding and informal consultative process open to all States Members and Observers of the United Nations. UN agencies and other international and regional bodies may be invited as observers. The Forum addresses, in a transparent manner, the multidimensional aspects, opportunities and challenges related to international migration and its inter-linkages with development. It brings together government expertise from all regions, to enhance dialogue, cooperation and partnership to foster practical and action-oriented outcomes at the national, regional and global levels.

Soon after the setting up of the GFMD, the governments realised the need to have business leaders to the GFMD tables. Determined to fill the empty business seat at the GFMD tables, the Turkish Chair-in-office and Switzerland built on the efforts by the former Swedish chairmanship to fulfil the recommendation of the GFMD assessment from 2011-2012 to include the private sector in the migration-related discussions.

At the 8th Annual Summit of GFMD held in Istanbul, Turkey on 14-16 October 2015 a “GFMD Business Mechanism” was endorsed to include private sector in GFMD migration and development policy dialogues.

Therefore, the Business Advisory Group on Migration was set up in 2016 as the Global Platform for members to coordinate the business perspective in the area of migration policy, while the GFMD Business Mechanism is one of the four mechanisms under the GFMD and provides the private sector perspective to both the GFMD and the GCM.

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) funded the establishment of the Business Mechanism unit, which is housed in the International Organisation of Employers, IOE.

Our Mission

• Increase private sector impact on migration policy at national, regional and international level

• Intensify promotion of business interests and more business-friendly migration policy

• Advocate for a regulatory environment in which labour migration policies support business creation and development in order to create job opportunities and economic prosperity

Core Areas of Focus

• Skills Mobility

• Responsible Recruitment

• Skills Development and Matching

• Technology and Migration

What We Do

The Business Advisory Group on Migration, as the Global platform for members coordinates the private sector to:

• Engage in dialogue with governments on migration issues
• Provide strategic policy advice, in cooperation with the national employers’ organisations, to governments for necessary policy changes
• Establish and maintain regular interaction among the members and coordinate the interests of business within international and regional initiatives
• Raise public awareness and promote a better understanding of employers’ perspectives, inter alia, by showcasing best practices

Governance

The Business Advisory Group has an executive committee composed of 15 members as follows:

• Chair
• Vice-Chair,
• Secretary: Secretary-General of International Organisation of Employers (IOE)
• Five employers’ organisations,
• Four companies
• Three business associations