The third meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) was held on November 4-5, 2009 in Athens, Greece. This year, its title was “Integrating Migration Policies into Development Strategies for the Benefit of All.” Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights Juan Manuel Gómez Robledo headed the Mexican delegation that participated in the meeting. The delegation consisted of officials from the National Institute of Migration (INAMI in Spanish) including Commissioner Cecilia Romero, as well as from the Ministries of Social Development and Foreign Affairs.

At the meeting, more than 500 delegates from 130 countries addressed issues such as the interrelationship between international migration and the Millennium Development Goals and the integration and circulation of migrants. The forum was inaugurated by Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou; also present was UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Undersecretary Gómez Robledo and Ambassador Han-Maurits Schaapveld of the Netherlands co-chaired the session entitled “Engaging diasporas and migrants in development policies and programs: Their role? Their constraints?” that discussed the need to intensify the exchange of best practices between the countries of origin and destination of migrants that are interested in engaging the diasporas in activities that promote development.

During the closing ceremony, Ambassador Gómez Robledo received the presidency of the forum, given that Mexico will host the fourth GFMD meeting in 2010. Mexico hopes to contribute to enriching the forum and sharing the experience, vision and perspective of the region on the migratory phenomenon. The Undersecretary said that Mexico is interested in promoting alliances and/or partnerships based on shared responsibility and international cooperation that enable the countries of origin and destination to benefit from the valuable contributions made by migrants.

The Undersecretary stressed that Mexico will seek to further the discussion of circular emigration in the fourth GFMD meeting. He lamented that a global consensus is lacking on the challenges of migration and development, and said that Mexico believes that a process of this sort should have some type of link with the UN, the most important universal organization, because it must have a degree of legitimacy.

The ambassador also said that the discussion on migration and development becomes even more important during a financial crisis that affects both the countries of destination and those of origin at a moment when organized criminal groups dedicated to smuggling persons have been demonstrated to have devastating power.

INAMI Commissioner Cecilia Romero explained in an interview that migration is a natural process that should be part of social development. She was hopeful that the proposals of the working groups that are delivered to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon would contribute to establishing the foundations for a new conceptualization of migration, and she stressed that next year when the fourth GFMD was held in Mexico, our country would seek to open a discussion on the management of migration and the responsibilities of the nations involved in the phenomenon.

The GFMD is designed to encourage an exchange of experiences, strengthen dialog and promote cooperation on migration and development. To date, the GFMD has held three meetings: in Brussels (2007), Manila (2008) and Athens (2009).