Turkey hosts 8th GFMD Summit Meeting: “Migration and Human Mobility for Sustainable Development”

Around 150 countries will gather from 14 to 16 October 2015 in Istanbul for the 8th Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) Summit Meeting taking place under the Chairmanship of Turkey, as represented by H.E. Feridun Hadi Sinirlioğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Turkish GFMD Summit comes in the wake of the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and amidst heightened global attention on migrants’ plight. 

UN Deputy Secretary General H.E. Jan Eliasson will deliver the keynote address which revolves around the Turkish Chairmanship theme, “Strengthening Partnerships: Migration and Human Mobility for Sustainable Development.”  Istanbul’s 2,500-year-old history at the crossroads between Europe and Asia serves as the perfect scenario for the upcoming summit meeting, fostering intercultural dialogue in the face of new migration challenges. 

H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkey’s Prime Minister will lead the opening ceremony which will be witnessed by around 900 delegates from governments, international organizations and civil society. Other high level officials, including UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, UN Alliance of Civilizations High Representative Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, and around 30 Ministers and Vice Ministers from all regions of the world are also expected to attend the 8th GFMD Summit.   

The opening ceremony will be followed by the Common Space wherein representatives from governments, civil society and international organizations will examine and expand areas of common ground in the migration and development debate, and connect their different perspectives on crucial issues. The GFMD 2014-2015 Common Space overarching theme is “Working Together in the Post-2015 Development era: Advancing human security and human development of people on the move.”

For the Turkish GFMD Chair, the Global Forum presents a unique opportunity to discuss important migration and development issues and to keep the momentum on dialogue, action and cooperation on migration issues that can serve the common interests of the international community and migrants themselves. Three Roundtables will be organized to ensure the GFMD’s pivotal role and relevance in the global dialogue on migration and development: “Human mobility and the well-being of migrants”, “Migration as a factor in development” and “Enhancing international cooperation on emerging issues in migration and mobility”.

As host to some 2 million refugees, Turkey has rich experiences in managing migratory flows. Thus, the Turkish GFMD Chairmanship has focused on 3 key objectives: a) to deepen the discussion on the protection of the human and labor rights of migrants; b) to further explore the development impact of migration on public policies, particularly at the sectorial level; and c) to take the results of the GFMD into other regional and international agenda-setting processes in which Turkey is playing a key role, particularly the G-20 Group of States, the first World Humanitarian Summit and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

View: Provisional Programme, Schedule of Side Events, GFMD Common Space, and other conference materials.

Go to https://www.gfmd.org/meetings/turkey2014-2015/media for media accreditation.