Dhaka – A three-day 9th Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) Summit will begin today in Dhaka.Representatives from 122 countries will attend the summit, the largest platform for developing migration rights as well as addressing refugee crises, unfortunately Myanmar has turned down the official invitation to send representatives.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will address the inaugural session at Bangabandhu International Conference Center, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar this morning.Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Nurul Islam, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development and Cooperatives Khandker Mosharraf Hossain will also address the inaugural session.While Chair of Ninth GFMD Civil Society Days Colin Rajah, Senior Adviser, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for International Migration Francois Fouinat, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women and Chair of the Global Migration Group (GMG) Lakshmi Puri,Director General, International Labour Organization (ILO) Guy Ryder,Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Ambassador William Lacy Swing, Under Secretary General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs of UN H. E. Wu Hongbo will also deliver their speech.The GFMD is an initiative of United Nations (UN) Member States to address the migration and development interconnections in practical and action-oriented ways. It is an informal, non-binding, voluntary and government-led process that marks the culmination of more than a decade of international dialogue on the growing importance of the linkages between migration and development.The GFMD process brings together expertise from all regions and countries at all stages of economic, social and political development.Policy-makers from a wide range of government agencies participate,including from Ministries and Departments of Immigration, Development,Labour, Foreign Affairs, Gender Equality, Home Affairs, Justice,Interior, Integration and Nationals Abroad. Since its inception, the GFMD has operated on the basis of a unique participative working method, involving governments and policy makers from a varied background.Bangladesh and other GFMD delegates expected that Myanmar, the country currently in the global eye for Rohingya atrocities will attend the summit.As the host of the global summit, Bangladesh cordially invited Myanmar to participate amidst the Rohingya crisis, but no response was received. The registration for attending the summit expired on November 25 but it did not register. Unfortunately, no reason has stated for its deliberate absence.The New York Declaration that followed the 19th September Summit was an important milestone in the future of governance of international migration, an unprecedented scale of large movement refugees and migrants, dramatic images and fear-driven rhetoric.These were the guiding questions addressed before a crowded audience attending the GFMD Dialogue on the Global Migration Compact, hosted by the Government of Bangladesh, GFMD 2016 Chair, at the UN Headquarters in New York on November 14 2016.Bangladesh election in lead role reaffirms in incorporating the migration issue in the post 2015 development agenda. The last GFMD 2014-2015 was held in Turkey.Shahidul Haque, Foreign Secretary and Chair-in-Office of the GFMD 2016 stated that the international community has shown little appetite for improving how it governs human mobility.As a chair, Bangladesh will get the opportunity to effectively pursue and further promote the rights and well-beings of the migrant workers and their families in the global migration discourse where representatives of 150 countries will participate.
source:Greenwatch news desk
