8th to 12th December 2016, Bangladesh
More than 200 representatives of civil society from over 50 countries, as well as representatives from governments and international organizations, gathered in Bangladesh from 8 to 12 December to deliberate on action needed for inclusion, protection and empowerment of migrants, and the governance of migration.
The Civil Society Days (CSDs) of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), entitled “Time for Action; Doing rights-based governance of migration and development in our communities and across borders”, took place on 8 and 9 December. On 10 December, the CSDs participants — leaders of civil society, migrant and diaspora groups, trade unions, and academia — joined ministers and senior government officials, together with representatives of international organizations and the private sector, for a day of “Common Space”, followed by two days of government deliberations on 11-12 December.
AFFORD’s Engagement and Capacity Manager, Stella Opoku-Owusu and BASUG‘s Chairman, Bikash Chowdhury Barua led 2 working sessions:
– Creating welcoming societies and ensuring the social inclusion of diaspora and migrants
– Migrants and diaspora action in job creation, entrepreneurship and public policy
Stella Opoku-Owusu participated as a discussion starter in the second working session and shared with the audience, AFFORD’s Diaspora Finance Investment (DFI) programme which aims to diversify diaspora investments, create jobs and enhance the African social economy.
During Common Space, ADEPT’s Interim Director, Gibril Faal participated as a speaker on the breakout session ‘Cooperation in Global Governance: Towards an ambitious Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration: achieving Summit commitments and 2030 Agenda target 10.7′.
Gibril Faal also moderated a working session during Civil Society Days on ‘Doing Global Governance Better: Implementing and monitoring migration-related aspects of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the role of the GFMD’.
