First High-level Dialogue on international migration and development
New York
The first-ever plenary session of the UN General Assembly on migration issues opens 14 September at the United Nations in New York, with a focus on ways to maximize the development benefits of migration and to reduce difficulties.
“We are only beginning to learn how to make migration work more consistently for development,� Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report prepared in anticipation of the meeting. “Each of us holds a piece of the migration puzzle, but none has the whole picture. It is time to start putting it together.�
Conceived and scheduled more than two years ago by the General Assembly, the 14-15 September High-level Dialogue follows a period of intense public attention to the cross-border movement of people, and a quickening pace of multilateral talks on migration.
In addition to the plenary debate, the 14-15 September High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development brings ministers and delegates together in informal round table discussions on themes such as remittances (i.e., monies sent home by workers abroad); smuggling of migrant and trafficking in persons; and partnerships at the bilateral and regional levels.
- Opening statement by the Secretary-General
- Summary by the President of the General Assembly
- Closing statement by the President of the General Assembly