Skip to main content
News - 
Global

IOM’s International Dialogue on Migration 2019 Focuses on Youth Underway in New York

New York – The first International Dialogue on Migration (IDM) of 2019 is taking place at United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York on 28 February alongside two other events on migration planned between 26 and 28 February at UN HQ, New York; the General Assembly’s high-level debate on international migration and development on the 27th, and UN DESA’s symposium on international migration and development on the 26th. 

This IDM is the first of two dialogues to be held this year focusing on engaging youth as key partners in migration governance.  

Today, 1.8 billion young people in the world have a tremendous and essential role in migration policy discussions. Of the 258 million international migrants, approximately 11 per cent of them were aged 15 to 24 in 2017. It is essential to include their voices and contributions in decision-making process and to recognize their demand worldwide for better rights and opportunities for development, IOM representatives affirmed during IDM sessions held in 2018 in New York and Geneva. IOM representatives called for a greater engagement with youth in migration governance efforts. 

“It is vital and in the best interest of governments that we include their voices in policymaking and give them a real stake in guiding their futures. Together, we will support the United Nations Youth Strategy’s efforts to amplify youth voices and promote their involvement in global migration processes,” said the Director General of IOM, António Vitorino.  

IOM has been actively working on youth and migration issues and this IDM will provide a global, diverse and inclusive platform for discussions to engage youth with not only decisionmakers in migration, but also with other key actors in migration and related-areas, at all levels.  

The dialogue will promote best practices and recommendations on all areas relevant to youth and migration, including but not limited to involvement of youth in migration policy-making processes, adaptation and resilience among youth migrants, empowerment of youth as agents of integration and actors of development, exploring efforts to re-frame the current toxic narrative and hate speech against migrants, particularly migrant youth who are often targeted through social media, as well as youth migration in the era of advanced technology.  

María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, António Vitorino, Director General of IOM and Jayathma Wickramanayake, United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth will open the dialogue with keynote remarks. 

The dialogue will include the views of youth and government representatives, including Mohamed Bangura, Minister of Youth Affairs in Sierra Leone, Santiago Javier Chavez Pareja, Vice Minister for Human Mobility of Ecuador, Chair of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) 2019, and Aya Chebbi, African Union Youth Envoy and from among many other youth representatives and high-level representatives of governments, local authorities, parliaments, academia and civil society.  

On the same day at 1:15pm, IOM and the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth (UNMGCY) are co-organizing a side event on youth leadership at UN HQ. An all-female, all-youth panel will explore how and where youth can actively influence discussions on migration, as a part of a whole-of-society approach building on key outcomes and recommendations from the 2018 Marrakech Youth Forum, and strategies for youth to better engage in migration governance.  

This IDM and the following one in Geneva on 15 and 16 October 2019 aim to generate informative discussions that governments and other partners can employ in designing appropriate policies to manage youth migration and youth engagement in sustainable development strategies especially as countries are assessing progress towards several of the SDGs relevant to migrants and migration in July 2019 at the UN’s high-level political forum on sustainable development. The results and recommendations from IDM will be captured in the IDM Red Book which will be shared broadly.   

For more information on the agenda and meeting documents, please check the International Dialogue on Migration webpage: https://www.iom.int/idm-2019-youth-and-migration-engaging-youth-key-partners-migration-governance 

More information on the side event and RSVP: https://unofficeny.iom.int/international-dialogue-migration-side-event-youth-leadership  

Follow the UN TV for livestream on 28 February from 10am EDT in the six UN official languages: http://webtv.un.org/  

Follow us on social media: #IDM2019 #ForMigration  

For more information, please contact the IDM Workshop team at IOM HQ, Tel: +41 227 179535, Email: idmworkshop@iom.int 

Share this page via:

Regions
Office type
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Asia and the Pacific
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas (The)
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cabo Verde
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic (the)
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros (the)
Congo (the)
Costa Rica
Côte d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czechia
Democratic Republic of the Congo (the)
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic (the)
East and Horn of Africa
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Eritrea
Estonia
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Europe and Central Asia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia (the)
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Global Office in Brussels
Global Office in Washington
Greece
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
IOM Office at the United Nations
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Iraq
Ireland
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People's Democratic Republic (the)
Latin America and the Caribbean
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Manila Administrative Centre
Marshall Islands (the)
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia (Federated States of)
Middle East and North Africa
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands (Kingdom of the)
New Zealand
Niger (the)
Nigeria
North Macedonia
Norway
Pakistan
Palau
Panama
Panama Administrative Centre
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines (the)
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Republic of Korea
Republic of Moldova (the)
Romania
Russian Federation (the)
Rwanda
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
Subregional Office in Brussels
Subregional Office in Pretoria
Sudan (the)
Sweden
Switzerland
Syrian Arab Republic (the)
Tajikistan
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Türkiye
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)
United Republic of Tanzania (the)
UNSC Resolution 1244-Administered Kosovo
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Viet Nam
West and Central Africa
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe