Switzerland - After more than three years of inter-governmental negotiations on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, migration has been incorporated into mainstream global development policy, rectifying the omission made 15 years earlier in the Millennium Development Goals.

The text at the centre of this historical agreement establishing a new sustainable development agenda, which includes a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), was adopted on 2 August in New York. 

The political declaration of the Summit Outcome Document, entitled “Transforming our world – the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” recognizes the “positive contribution of migrants for inclusive growth,” while noting the “multi-dimensional reality” of migration.

The most salient reference to migration is a target on “facilitating orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.” It appears in SDG 10 on reducing inequality within and among countries. This target will create greater impetus for governments to adopt “high road” migration policies to promote dignified, orderly and safe migration for the benefit of all – a key priority of IOM.

Welcoming this important development, IOM Director General William Lacy Swing, said: “This could not have come at a more opportune time, given the unprecedented hostility towards migrants witnessed around the globe and the complex challenges that this presents. Migrants’ inclusion in the outcome document fills a gaping chasm as the MDGs failed even to mention them.”

Other migration-related targets call for eradicating forced labour and human trafficking; securing a safe working environment, including for migrant workers; reducing the cost of migrant remittances; and significantly reducing the number of people affected by disasters.

In the coming months, the international community will develop strong follow-up and review mechanisms to monitor the progress made towards the SDG goals and targets. In this regard, IOM and the Economist Intelligence Unit are developing an International Migration Policy Index to assess the progress made on SDG target 10.7 on well managed migration policies.

IOM will also contribute its technical and policy expertise – as well as its field network – to the challenging task of implementing this new, ambitious agenda.

“IOM looks forward to working with its key partners around the world to realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the future we want for all,” said Ambassador Swing.

For further information please contact Lars Johan Lönnback at IOM Geneva, Tel: +41.22.717.9483, Email, llonnback@iom.int or Christopher Richter at IOM New York, Tel: +1.212.681.7000, Email: crichter@iom.int