The Minister of State ( 2) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Isata Kabia , this week represented Sierra Leone at the 2017 International Dialogue on Migration, held at the United Nations in New York.
The two-day dialogue on Tuesday April 18 and Wednesday April 19 was organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) .
The 2017 theme of the Dialogue , held twice every year, was ‘Strengthening International Cooperation on and Governance of Migration towards the Adoption of a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration in 2018″.
The Dialogue was also attended by migration policymakers, practitioners and other stakeholders.
In accordance with the theme of the Dialogue, Minister Isata Kabia and participants exchanged views and identified ” concrete and implementable actions for strengthening international cooperation and migration governance.”
MINISTER KABIA IS SEEN HERE AT THE PODIUM —SECOND FROM RIGHT
The panelists included the UN Deputy Secretary General, Amina J. Mohammed, the President of the UN General Assembly Peter Thomson, the Secretary General’s Special Representative for International Migration, Louise Arbour, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada, Ahmed Hussen, the two co-facilitators of the modalities of the GCM process, Permanent Representatives of Switzerland and Mexico and many other distinguished representatives of Governments, civil society, academia and the private sector.
Some of the topics that were discussed at the Diaogue included how governments have integrated the migration dimensions of major development frameworks, in particular the SDGs, in their policies and programs at the national levels; the best practices that have been implemented to address social and other costs of migration, provide means to maximize the positive outcomes of migration for migrants, their families and communities.
They also discussed supporting ethical recruitment, developing channels for cheaper, faster and safer transfers of remittances in both source and recipient countries and creating enabling conditions for knowledge and skills exchange, migrants’ access to health, education, gender empowerment.
According to the IOM, “The outcomes from this IDM and the second one scheduled for 18-19 July in Geneva, will feed into the consultation phase of the Global Compact on Migration which will culminate in the stocktaking preparatory meeting in Mexico in December. ”
