PrintThe 2010 Mexico Chairmanship
As a major country of origin, transit and destination for migrants, Mexico was well positioned to host the 2010 GFMD. As part of larger regional integration processes, Mexico also understood that protecting and empowering migrants and their families is a responsibility which can best be met in partnership between governments, civil society, international organizations and migrants themselves. As such, the Mexican Chairmanship was conducted under the overarching theme of “Partnerships for Migration and Human Development: Shared Prosperity, Shared Responsibility.
Thus, a key objective of GFMD 2010 was to examine partnerships and how they are created as effective mechanisms to address the causes, challenges and effects of migration for development, and of development for migration, and how they can facilitate more comprehensive, balanced policies and a greater willingness to share responsibility.
The GFMD 2010 revisited some concepts, broke with some old stereotypes and cast a fresh eye on some issues key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (since 2015 transformed into the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development). The 2010 GFMD process also aimed to focus on development in its broader sense, namely human development, in order to discuss certain aspects that were deemed by some as incompletely discussed in previous GFMD meetings, particularly human rights of and protection for all migrants.
In short, the 2010 GFMD aimed for change, and tried to set the stage for more flexible and imaginative approaches to cooperation and partnership between government and non-state actors in migration and development.
Fourth Meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development
8-11 November 2010, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
The fourth meeting of the GFMD, hosted by Mexico in Puerto Vallarta, was attended by 131 countries and 38 international organizations. It was, by all accounts, a successful meeting of minds of government and civil society on a range of problems - both old and new - relating to migration and development.
The Mexican presidency successfully strengthened the government-civil society interaction by creating a Common Space, which brought the two components of the GFMD together, a departure from the more traditional character of the opening plenary debate. This was seen as a way to redress what some delegations had come to see as an inadequate “interface” between government and Civil Society Days (CSD) during past GFMD meetings. It also responded to calls from both governments and civil society for new forms of cooperation and collaboration in addressing migration and development. The Common Space has since then become a recurrent feature in the GFMD Summit meetings.
Moreover, at the Puerto Vallarta Summit, a new mechanism - the Platform for Partnerships - was presented and welcomed by participating Member States. It was intended to facilitate partnerships on current GFMD topics, previous GFMD outcomes and follow-up activities.
The special session on the future of the Forum set the scene for a team of governments to initiate the assessment of the GFMD process, which looked back on what the GFMD had so far achieved and looked forward to where it may lead in the future. The first phase of this assessment process went on to be completed by the Swiss Chair in 2011, and the second phase by the Mauritian Chair in 2012, to help identify the required steps to secure the continuing viability and relevance of the GFMD.
The animated exchanges during the Roundtable discussions introduced some new themes and offered new angles on old ones, like irregular migration, family and gender, as well as examining and proposing follow-up actions. Indeed, some of today´s good practices have evolved with the GFMD, or have been catalyzed by its discussions.
In preparation for the 4th GFMD, the ad hoc Working Groups undertook flanking studies and workshops to connect outcomes from previous GFMDs to the 2010 discussions and bring fresh evidence to the Roundtables.
