QU'EST-CE QUE C'EST L'ACTION MONDIALE DES PEUPLES?

L’Action Mondiale des Peuples sur la Migration, le Développement et les Droits Humains est un événement de la société civile parallèle au Forum Mondial sur la Migration et le Développement (FMMD, en anglais: Global Forum on Migration and Development - GFMD). Elle est indépendante de processus officiel de FMMD, qui est organisé par les amis du forum et le gouvernement philippin. Cette manifestation parallèle rassemblera les migrants et les mouvements populaires afin de discuter des modèles pour une politique de migration qui défende les droits humains des migrants et des peuples, ce qui demande l’examen de toute une gamme de questions portant sur la migration, y compris les problèmes sous-jacents de développement, de chômage et la manière dont nous pouvons collectivement les aborder.

Nous considérons que les journées officielles de la société civile programmées lors du FMMD représentent des opportunités limitées pour la participation populaire et fonctionnent selon le désir et l’objectif des gouvernements chargés du FMMD.

Ceci souligne le besoin d’une participation active de la société civile dans les prochains FFMD. Ceci étant, nous considérons qu’il est crucial d’organiser un événement parallèle qui implique bien activement la société civile le plus généralement possible, avec des activités relatives répondant aux conditions actuelles des communautés migrantes dans le monde entier…

L’Action Mondiale des Peuples se tiendra du 22 au 30 Octobre 2008 à Rajah Solayman Park, Manille, Philippines. Elle inclura des ateliers, des panels, des mobilisations, un temps pour des réunions internes des organisations, un espace pour des ateliers de type libre, des démonstrations de type théâtre-performances ainsi que d’autres activités.

Background

The issue of labour migration has become a global phenomenon with various multilateral institutions such as the UN, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank looking into the issue. At the UN level, labour migration was taken up as a global issue on December 1979 when the General Assembly decided to adopt a resolution to establish a working group open to all Member States to elaborate an international convention on the protection of the rights of all migrant workers and their families.  In 18 December 1990, the UN general Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (Henceforth will be known as MWC) The convention came into force in 1 July 2003  with 23 ratifications by member states. To date, the majority of the 37 ratifications are migrant sending countries.

The United Nations General Assembly through resolution 58/208 of 23 December 2003, also decided to hold a United Nations High Level Dialogue (UNHLD) on international migration and development during its 61st session. The UNHLD on international migration and development took place on September 14-15, 2006 at the United Nations general headquarters in New York City.

The purpose of the UNHLD was to discuss the multidimensional aspects of international migration and development in order to identify appropriate ways and means to maximize its development benefits and minimize its negative impacts. Additionally, the UNHLD focused on policy issues, including the challenge of achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Among the recommendations of the UNHLD was the creation of the permanent forum on migration. The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan was a vigorous supporter of the HLD and believed that it should mark the beginning of inter-governmental discussions about migration and development.

From the UN led process which was the HLD came the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD). The GFMD is no longer a UN led process but a non-binding intergovernmental process that will look at developing a practical agenda on maximizing the gains from migration and development. At the UNHLD the Government of Belgium signified its intention to host the first GFMD.

The GFMD will not be a decision-making or policymaking body. It is a voluntary process that aims to address issues related to migration and development in a manner that goes beyond mere analysis. It aims to identify best practices, promote the exchange of experiences, identify obstacles to smart policymaking, explore and adopt innovative approaches, and enhance cooperation among countries.

The first GFMD was hosted by the Belgian Government on 9-11 July 2007. The 2007 GFMD was organized in two parts, the first day devoted to Civil Society or the Global Civil Society Forum on Migration and Development for the GFMD. The second and third day was an intergovernmental process where twelve members of civil society were allowed to participate.

Through a consultative process which involved about 115 governments, two themes were identified as top priorities for the first meeting of the Forum: 'Migration and socio-economic development', and 'Best ways to strengthen the links between migration policies and development policies'.  At the first GFMD, these issues were addressed by the governments in roundtable discussions that focus on the following topics:

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