The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) officially assumed the chairmanship of the Global Migration Group (GMG) on 1 July 2012, for a period of six months.
The GMG is an inter-agency group bringing together heads of international organisations to promote the wider application of all relevant international and regional instruments and norms relating to migration, and to encourage the adoption of more coherent, comprehensive and better coordinated approaches to the issue of international migration. In 2012, the GMG includes 16 members, consisting of 15 United Nations entities and the International Organisation on Migration (IOM).
UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov will attend and represent the GMG at the Sixth Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD) summit in Mauritius in November 2012. During this meeting, Mr. Fedotov will make a joint statement to the gathered Member States on behalf of the GMG on "Combating violence against migrants, migrant workers and their families".
Additionally, as part of the UNODC chairmanship, the GMG will produce a thematic paper on " Protecting migrants & migration from criminal exploitation: a human rights response to trafficking in persons & smuggling of migrants". The publication, addressing the security and safety of migrants, will be launched at the end of the year.
During its chairmanship, UNODC will place a high priority on facilitating discussion and agreed action on the large number of outstanding work issues facing the GMG at present. Currently, the GMG is conducting an internal review, to take stock of accomplishments and challenges since its creation in 2006. The ultimate goal of this review is to support preparations for the second High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development to be held by the United Nations General Assembly during its sixty-eighth session in 2013.
The Global Migration Group (GMG) was established by the United Nations Secretary-General in early 2006 in response to a recommendation of the Global Commission on International Migration for the establishment of a high-level inter-institutional group of agencies involved in migration-related activities.
