GLOBAL COMPACT FOR SAFE ORDERLY AND REGULAR MIGRATION

On 19 December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) by its resolution 73/195.  

The Global Compact is the first inter-governmentally negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, covering all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner. It is a non-binding document that respects states’ sovereign right to determine who enters and stays in their territory and demonstrates commitment to international cooperation on migration. It presents a significant opportunity to improve the governance of migration, to address the challenges associated with today’s migration, and to strengthen the contribution of migrants and migration to sustainable development. 

The Global Compact is framed in a way consistent with target 10.7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in which Member States committed to cooperate internationally to facilitate safe, orderly and regular migration. The GCM consists of 23 interconnected objectives and 10 cross-cutting and interdependent guiding principles, based on a series of principles related to multilateralism, and it is designed to:

• Support international cooperation on the governance of international migration;
• Provide a comprehensive menu of options for States from which they can select policy options to address some of the most pressing issues around international migration; and
• Give states the space and flexibility to pursue implementation based on their own migration realities and capacities.

The Resolution established that, under the leadership of the States, the progress made at all levels on the implementation of the GCM should be reviewed periodically. To this end, it was defined that the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) should be held every four sessions of the General Assembly. This Forum is the primary intergovernmental global platform established to present and discuss such progress, facilitate interaction between different actors and identify opportunities for increased cooperation. Likewise, starting in 2020, discussions are encouraged at subregional, regional and interregional level on the progress of the Global Compact every four years to prepare inputs for the Migration Review Forum which first edition will be held in 2022.  

In compliance with this resolution, the Regional Review meeting in Latin America and the Caribbean was held virtually on 26-28 April, 2021. The meeting was co-organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in its capacity as Coordinator of the United Nations Network on Migration, with the support of various agencies, funds and programs that make up the Regional Network in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Regional Review provided a common platform where Member States and other stakeholders could contribute to the debate on the challenges, progress and needs implementing the GCM.

Learn more about the results of the Regional Review Meeting on the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration by clicking here.