PrintThe GFMD and Civil Society
While the GFMD process is state-led, civil society has directly been engaged in the GFMD from the beginning, principally through recommendations and action plans put forward to governments. Over the past years, civil society has stepped up its role, responsibility, ownership and leadership in the GFMD process. The Civil Society Mechanism is an integral part of the GFDM Steering Group and Friends of the Forum and provides inputs into each Chairmanship on content and format when invited to do so by the Chair. At the same time, it continues to strengthen a global network of migrant rights and development leaders advocating for and contributing to the implementation of GFMD recommendations that improve the lives of migrants, their families and the countries to and from which they migrate. Civil society input to discussion, and dialogue between governments and civil society, is thus recognized as a vital part of the GFMD.
GFMD Civil Society Days (CSD) and Civil Society Preparatory Meeting
Since the creation of the GFMD in 2007 and up until the Quito Summit in January 2020, civil society participation in the GFMD was entirely through the GFMD Civil Society Days (CSD), organized preceding the annual GFMD Summit Meeting of governments. Outcomes of the CSD would be reported during the opening of the GFMD Summit.
A significant evolution for civil society and other stakeholders was introduced by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2020, when the UAE Chair agreed to open the entire Summit to all GFMD stakeholders. As a response, the traditional Civil Society Days (CSD) of the GFMD were re-purposed to a Civil Society Preparatory Meeting (CSPM) taking place prior to the Summit to fully brief and prepare all civil society delegates to engage in the GFMD comprehensively.
GFMD Civil Society Mechanism and Coordinating Office
Since the Swiss chairmanship of 2011, civil society engagement in the GFMD has been self-organized. The CSD / CSPM and other GFMD civil society activities are coordinated by a Civil Society Coordinating Office housed by the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) under the guidance of a Civil Society International Steering Committee (ISC). The ISC is comprised of more than 30 civil society organizations and networks active in migration and development worldwide - at global, regional, national and grassroots levels, with broad sectoral and regional representation.
For more information, please visit the GFMD Civil Society website.
Previous Civil Society Meetings
To find out more about the outcomes of the past Civil Society Days meetings, please view the outcomes documents from each year below: