RP HANDS OVER INTL MIGRATION FORUM CHAIRMANSHIP TO GREECE

Last 16 December 2008, Philippine Ambassador to Greece Rigoberto Tiglao graced the Philippines’ official turnover of its chairmanship of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) to the Hellenic Republic.

DFA OUMWA Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, Chair of the Second Meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), handed over the chairmanship to Greece.

The two previous meetings were held in Belgium and the Philippines in 2007 and 2008, respectively.  The Third GFMD Meeting will be held in Athens from 2 to 5 November 2009.

In his hand-over speech, Undersecretary Conejos said that the Manila GFMD was “another big milestone on an ever widening and lengthening road towards better understanding and addressing the links between migration and development. “

With more than 1130 delegates participants representing some 163 Member States and Observers of the United Nations, 33 international organizations and 220 participants in the Civil Society meeting, the Manila GFMD is the first in Asia and the largest conference on migration and development outside the UN system, gathering a distinguished assembly of policy makers and experts on migration and development from all world regions.

After two meetings in Brussels and Manila , the GFMD established its credentials as a voluntary, informal and government-led process that continually advances understanding and cooperation, and fosters practical and action-oriented outcomes on the mutually reinforcing relationship between migration and development. Its informality and interactive focus on concrete and cooperative solutions to today’s challenges sets it apart from other, more formal processes that can tend to get stuck on points of doctrine or form.

The Philippine GFMD focused on the human face of migration with its central theme, “Protecting and Empowering Migrants for Development.”  Drawing from its hard-won experiences (both good and bad) of more than 30 years in protecting and supporting its expatriate workers, the Philippines showcased its “life-cycle” approach to protecting migrants in every step of the migration cycle. At the Manila GFMD, the Philippines shared how legal and institutional mechanisms of protection could empower migrant Filipinos to better contribute to their personal, institutional, and national development.

As Undersecretary Conejos explained, “It is first and foremost people that link our countries – not just the capital or goods that economists love to build their development and growth models on. It is people that stimulate the trade, business and economic exchanges that keep the global economy moving.”

“People are our biggest national asset at any time in the course of our social, economic and political development.  Economic development cannot occur without human development, that is, without human beings who are healthy, educated, employed, and able to care for their families,” Undersecretary Conejos added.

The Undersecretary further elaborated on the concept of shared responsibility for better protecting migrants, citing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s statement at the opening of the Manila GFMD that “Globalization should be for everyone, not just for the fittest. We need a world, where we are all equally part of a “caring and sharing” global community.”

As outgoing GFMD Chair, Undersecretary Conejos conveyed his hope that Greece will carry on the two overriding achievements of the Manila GFMD, namely, continuity and change: continuing and advancing the process of consultation and collaboration begun in Brussels last year, and changing the way the world looks at migration and development.

Undersecretary Conejos also affirmed the readiness of the Philippines to assist the Greek Chair in the challenging task of organizing the Third Meeting of the GFMD. He likewise expressed full support for the chosen theme of the Hellenic Republic , i.e., “Integrating Migration Policies in Development Strategies for the Benefit of All.”  He lauded the Hellenic Republic ’s objective of promoting development for all, so that migration becomes a matter of option and not a necessity for migrant citizens.