Global Compact for Migration: Civil Society Engagement

The Modalities Resolution A/71/L.58 detailing the process leading to adoption of the GCM emphasizes that the process should be open and inclusive and stresses the importance of considering input from all relevant stakeholders, including civil society (paragraph 6). Further, in paragraph 7, it “emphasizes the importance of contributions that take into account different realities, and therefore encourages effective contributions from and the active participation of all relevant stakeholders, at all stages of the preparatory process and at the conference itself, including by the sharing of best practices and concrete policies, for example, through the convening of national multi-stakeholder consultations and participation in global, regional and sub-regional platforms”.

Recognizing that adequately capturing the varying realities of each region and the diverse perspectives from a diverse range of civil society organizations, as well as ensuring effective civil society contributions will be a challenge, regional civil society networks [with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)], organized a series of seven Regional Civil Society Consultations (RCSCs).  The RCSCs were an opportunity to consolidate civil society stakeholder inputs by region, to contribute as key inputs for the consultation phase of the GCM.  The RCSCs also supported the effort of making the voices of local and regional civil society organizations (particularly those of migrants, diaspora, and grassroots communities) heard at the global level.

Asia
Dates:  4-5 August 2017
Location:  Bangkok, Thailand
Anchored by:  Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA)
Contact:  mfa@mfasia.org

Middle-East and North Africa (MENA)
Dates:  24-25 August 2017
Location:  Beirut, Lebanon
Anchored by:  Cross-Regional Center for Refugees and Migrants (CCRM)
Contact:  rhamati@insanlb.org

Africa
Dates:  28-29 August 2017
Location:  Bamako, Mali
Anchored by:  Pan-African Network in Defense of Migrants Rights (PANiDMR) and MADE-Afrique
Contact:  mamadou_goita@yahoo.fr

U.S. – Canada
Dates:  25-26 September
Location:  Washington DC, USA
Anchored by: AFL-CIO, Alianza Americas, National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights, Solidarity Center
Contact:  consultation@nnirr.org

Europe
Dates:  2-3 October
Location:  Brussels, Belgium
Anchored by:  Migration and Development Civil Society Network (MADE) and Platform for the International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)
Contact:  haasen@icmc.net

Latin America & the Caribbean 
Dates:  5-6 October 2017
Location:  Quito, Ecuador
Anchored by:  Bloque Latinomericano (Latin American Block), technical focal point by Asylum Access Ecuador
Contact:  berevrnice@gmail.com

Pacific
Dates:  2-3 November 2017
Location:  Nadi, Fiji
Anchored by:  The Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO), Fiji Citizens Constitutional Forum (CCF), in partnership with Sydney Asia Pacific Migration Center (SAPMiC) (Sydney University), the Diplomacy Training Program (DTP) (Univ. of NSW), Migrant Forum Asia (MFA).
Contact:  dtp@unsw.edu.au