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The 8th Summit Meeting of the Global Forum for Migration and Development took place in Istanbul on 14-16 October 2015, hosted by former Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioğlu. Turkey is chairing the GFMD since 1 July 2014.
Prime Minister H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu inaugurated the Forum which brings together participants from 150 countries and high level officials of international organizations, particularly UN Deputy Secretary-General, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Alliance of Civilizations High Representative, and UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for International Migration, EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations and addressed the participants.
In his address, Prime Minister Davutoğlu hailed the Forum as a unique and the most broadly participated event bringing together many countries from different continents of the world. Prime Minister Davutoğlu also underlined that discussing the latest issues topping the migration and development agenda with the active participation of the representatives of international organizations, civil society and private sector in İstanbul for three days is a timely and opportune event and touched upon the migration crisis. Stressing the need to come up together with solutions to the tragedies on the basis of common humanitarian values rather than ignoring them, Prime Minister Davutoğlu drew attention to Turkey’s exemplary efforts for the Syrian and Iraqi refugees for four years. In his address, Prime Minister Davutoğlu reminded that Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees according to the figures of UNHCR and also drew attention to the contrast between the aid offered by Turkey to Syrian refugees, which is 8 billion US Dollars, and the total amount of aid extended by the international community, which remains at 417 million US Dollars.
Speaking at the Global Forum on Migration and Development, Foreign Minister Sinirlioğlu said “Until and unless we proactively push for and support peace processes to end ongoing conflicts; address the humanitarian suffering first and foremost where it is taking place; establish and enforce safe zones where we can protect civilians from indiscriminate acts of violence; and, aggressively and resolutely take the fight to the terrorists wherever they are finding havens, we cannot prevent the kind of spontaneous mass migration that has taken us all by storm.” Underlining that the time is ripe to mobilize our efforts, address the root causes that trigger patterns of migration and prevent conflicts, Foreign Minister Sinirlioğlu stressed Turkey’s commitment to spare no effort to protect human lives through the strengthening of cooperation and partnerships. Foreign Minister Sinirlioğlu also reiterated Turkey’s resolve to continue its proactive efforts to prevent conflicts.
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12 October 2015 -- On behalf of the Turkish Chair of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) 2014-2015, Ms. Esen Altuğ, Deputy Director-General for Migration, Asylum and Visa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed the opening of the 2015 Civil Society Days held in Istanbul, which was attended by around 300 participants representing different sectors of civil society from all regions of the world.
Since 2007, the Civil Society Days have preceded the GFMD Government Meeting, paving the way for a purposeful interaction between civil society organizations and governments. The outcomes and recommendations of the 2015 Civil Society Days will be delivered during the opening ceremony of the Government Meeting on 14 October.
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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.
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On 15 July 2015, the Turkish Chair of the 2014-15 Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) convened the GFMD Thematic Meeting on The Mediterranean Crisis in a Global Context: A New Look at Migration and Development Approaches" at the Palais’ D’Egmont in Brussels.
Around 100 representatives from governments, international organizations and the civil society participated and brought into the discussions the points of view of origin, transit, and destination countries, with the end in view of managing and ultimately resolving the crisis.
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3 June 2015, Izmir, Turkey–A joint meeting of the G20, Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), and the Global Migration Group (GMG) took place in Izmir on 3 June 2015, at the margins of the G-20 Development Working Group meeting. The joint event was hosted....
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On 15-16 May 2015, the Turkish Chair of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), represented by Ambassador Mehmet Samsar, and the Government of Switzerland, represented by Ambassador Eduard Gnesa, co-hosted a GFMD Private Sector meeting in Istanbul, bringing together a select number of business decision makers from the ICT and Food, Beverage and hospitality sectors, relevant government policy makers, and other key stakeholders.
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On 29 April 2015, the Turkish Chair of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) together with the Governments of Mexico and Greece, co-convened the second GFMD Thematic Meeting on “The role of communications in promoting widespread recognition of the benefits of migration, improving public perceptions of migrants, combating discrimination, and promoting integration” in Geneva.
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Geneva-28 to 30 April 2015. The Turkish GFMD Chair convened the 4th round of preparatory meetings, the second Thematic GFMD Meeting on “the role of communications" and the second preparatory meetings of Government Roundtable Teams.
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Geneva-05 February 2015. The first GFMD Thematic Meeting on “Migration in the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda” was held in Geneva, bringing together around 150 policymakers and officials from UN Member States and representatives of international organizations and the civil society. The meeting was co-convened by the Governments of Bangladesh and Germany.
At the opening session, Amb. Mehmet Samsar, Director General for Consular Affairs of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, remarked that it was a very critical time for the evolution of the post-2015 UN Development agenda. With the Open Working Group’s (OWG) report and the UN Secretary Generals’ Synthesis Report as points of departure, the Turkish Chair encouraged delegates to take the discussion of the thematic meeting beyond the abstract by considering what including migration in the post-2015 development agenda would mean in practice, and reviewing what progress has been made on including migration-related goals, targets and indicators in the agenda.
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Geneva-24 November 2014. The Turkish GFMD Chair convened the 2nd round of preparatory meetings of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) 2014-2015 on Monday, 24 November, in Geneva.
Both meetings of the GFMD Steering Group (SG) and the Friends of the Forum (FOF) were chaired by Ms. Esen Altug, Deputy Director General for Migration, Asylum and Visa of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The GFMD 2014-2015 Troika comprised of the outgoing 2013-2014 Chair Sweden and the incoming 2016 Chair Bangladesh lent support throughout the meetings.