IOM Director General William Lacy Swing and Deputy Director General
Ndioro Ndiaye will be attending the second Global Forum on
Migration and Development (GFMD) that opens on 27 October at the
Philippine International Convention Centre in Manila.

The four-day meeting will kick-off with two Civil Society Days
followed by a two-day gathering of governments focusing on
protecting and empowering migrants for development. 

Both events will have an opening plenary session, followed by
simultaneous roundtables dedicated to migration, development and
human rights; on how secure and legal migration can achieve
stronger development impacts and on the need for policy and
institutional coherence and
partnerships.    

"IOM firmly believes that dialogue is crucial to understanding
and international cooperation on migration," says Director General
William Lacy Swing who will address the plenary session on 29
October. "States have developed this forum as one such vehicle,
adding depth and breadth at the global level to the mosaic of
existing opportunities for informational discussions at the
national, bilateral and regional levels."

The GFMD was proposed by the UN Secretary-General and his
Special Representative on International Migration and Development
at the High Level Dialogue on International Migration and
Development in September 2006 within the framework of the General
Assembly of the United Nations. Its inaugural meeting was held in
Brussels in July 2007 under the chairmanship of the Belgian
government.

The GFMD aims to draw together government expertise from all
regions of the world to enhance dialogue, cooperation and
partnership in the areas of migration and development; address, in
a transparent manner, the multidimensional aspects, opportunities
and challenges related to international migration and its
inter-linkages with development; and foster practical and
action-oriented outcomes at the national, regional and global
levels.

For more information in Manila, please contact:

Jean-Philippe Chauzy

Tel: +41 79 285 43 66

E-mail: "mailto:pchauzy@iom.int">pchauzy@iom.int 

or

Christopher Lom

Tel: + 66 819 275 215

E-mail: "mailto:clom@iom.int">clom@iom.int