13th GFMD Summit, United Arab Emirates (on-line)

Registration closed on 11 January.

The Summit programme is available here. Please note that the schedule for activities is indicated in CET time zone.

Background

The private sector is a major stakeholder in the Summit, one of the four GFMD member groups participating in Global Forum activities together with governments, mayors and local authorities and civil society leaders from around the world.

The 13^th GFMD Summit programme had a special focus on labour migration, the participation of business and mayors, regional perspectives, and dialogue.

The Business Advisory Group on Migration, hosted at the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), has been organising opportunities for leaders of employer federations and business to dialogue with governments during this global event.  Report on business participation at the GFMD13 is available here.

IOE consolidated written inputs to the six thematic priorities identified by the UAE Chair:

1. The Governance of Labour Migration in the Context of Changing Employment Landscapes,
2. Skilling Migrants for Employment,
3. Addressing Gaps in Migrant Protection,
4. Leveraging New Technologies to Empower Migrants,
5. Discussing Approaches to Address Irregular Migration – What Works? What Doesn’t?
6. Fostering Partnerships to Realize Migration-Related Goals in the Sustainable Development Agenda.

Find the inputs in the documents below, on this page.

More than 160 representatives of companies and employers’ organizations participated in the yearly process confirming their engagement in multilateral discussions on migration. The business speakers had 37 formal speaking roles in different government-led plenaries, as well as side events, showcasing their strong presence and engagement.

The following sessions within the Summit were organised by the Business Advisory Group on Migration:

1. a) 6 Business Networking regional dialogues with employers and governments
2. b) 3-hour Business Plenary during GFMD prime time with over 200 live attendees
3. c) 2nd Migration Challenge Competition for tech start-ups

Program details of the Business Mechanism during the Summit:

• Monday 18 January: Opening ceremony was pre-recorded and aired before prime time.
• Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 19 – 21 January, 6 government roundtables:

Two roundtables ran concurrently during prime time, with interventions from participants.

• Tuesday, 26 January: Closing ceremony, prime time; in addition, one session on International Migration Review Forum of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM/ IMRF Reporting)

• Thursday, 21 January: Business “Networking”

2 two-hour sessions held live before and after prime time, primarily for regional dialogues between regional employer federations and national governments, by invitation only. Networking sessions focused on informal dialogue directly with national governments. Some of the regional dialogues, e.g., for Asia and the Middle East, were introduced with highlights of new research completed with employer federations and business partners on business perspectives and migration policy, or a consolidation of more global such research in other sessions.

• Friday, 22 January: Business meeting and IOE-SEEDSTARS. 3-hour prime time session open to all:

Two 45-min Davos-style business plenary sessions.

Two 40-min rounds of IOE-SEEDSTARS pitching of tech start-ups focused on migration related issues. Having received enormous positive feedback on this part of the GFMD programme last year, this competition showcased how technology and entrepreneurship contributes to better migration management.

There were other activities to which participants had been invited in the Summit programme.

For any questions about this page please contact Ms. Bouchra Marclay at marclay@ioe-emp.com