UAE presides over six regional consultations as part of Global Forum on Migration and Development

The UAE presided over six regional consultative meetings, from which 18 sessions emerged, as part of its work program based on its vision of the chairmanship of the Global Forum on Migration and Development. The meetings saw the participation of more than 1,200 high-level officials representing the governments of Asian, African, European, North American and South American countries as well as international organizations and representatives of employers, employees and civil society organizations.

During an extraordinary meeting held recently at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, the Swiss Confederation, the steering committee of the forum praised the UAE’s vision of managing the forum as per the work program, under which the meetings and consultative sessions were held and resulted in six working papers to be discussed at a global summit of the forum to be held in the UAE in 2021.  

The committee also praised the UAE’s efforts and its ability to overcome the COVID-19 challenges and repercussions on the work of the forum through optimal investment of advanced technology for holding regional consultative meetings over the past months of this year via the visual communication technology.

In this connection, H.E. Nasser Bin Thani Al Hamli, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) and President of the Global Forum on Migration and Development 2020, affirmed that the work program, under which the UAE is running the 13th edition of the forum, reflects the UAE’s vision and approach as well as its global pioneering role as an active and influential partner in the international efforts aimed at maximizing developmental benefits to serve the peoples of the world and promote rapprochement among the different cultures.

The program aims at expanding partnerships between governments, non-government organizations and the private sector concurrently with developing the role and participation of regional consultative tracks, he added, noting that this would come out with consensual visions for dealing with the future challenges of migration and development.

“The six regional consultations provided unprecedented communication platforms for the work of the Global Forum on Migration and Development. These platforms contributed to strengthening direct dialogue among all parties concerned with migration and development issues at the level of the world's territories, each as per its own peculiarity,” he said.

Al Hamli praised the level of discussions and responsible and transparent dialogue witnessed by the regional meetings, noting that this would confirm the common interest of all the parties participating in these meetings and their relentless efforts to achieve the migration goals associated with the sustainable development agenda.

Meanwhile, H.E. Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Communication and International Relations, stated that the second extraordinary meeting of the steering committee of the forum was attended by representatives of the 29 member countries of the committee. The meeting, during which the outputs of the six regional consultative meetings were reviewed, discussed the future of jobs and the labor mobility in light of the challenges of technological development and the negative impacts on the global economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, adding that the meeting also discussed ways of strengthening partnerships among all concerned parties.

Al Nuaimi pointed out that the Abu Dhabi Dialogue’s group of countries held a virtual discussion session as part of the Global Forum on Migration and Development, during which a package of topics was reviewed that would develop partnerships between labor-receiving and labor-sending countries. These topics would also maximize the mutual developmental benefits of labor mobility and the governance of the temporary contractual work cycle in a manner, which is compatible with the post-COVID-19 phase and supports the goals of the forum, particularly that the Abu Dhabi Dialogue is one of the regional consultative tracks that achieved dazzling successes in concluding partnerships and enhancing co-operation on labor issues among the member countries of the dialogue, he said.

It is noteworthy that the UAE is the first GCC country to preside over the Global Forum on Migration and Development, which incorporates more than 180 member countries and international organizations. The forum is the main global consultative track on migration, labor mobility and development issues and provides a platform for senior officials and policy-makers to discuss policies, applications, challenges and opportunities related to migration and labor mobility.