GFMD and the 2030 Agenda

On 25-27 September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the Post-2015 Development agenda – now widely known as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda). Building on the Millennium Development Goals, the 2030 Agenda’s key objective is to eradicate poverty in all its forms and to leave no one behind, through the achievement of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. 

The GFMD has led global reflections on the mutually reinforcing relationship between migration and sustainable development in this context. As such, several initiatives focused on exploring the linkages between sustainable development and migration have been undertaken since 2013: from the inclusion of the 2030 Agenda as a focus in GFMD preparatory meetings, roundtable sessions, side events, thematic workshops and sessions at Summit Meetings; to the formation of a dedicated GFMD Ad hoc Working Group on 2030 Agenda.

The Eighth GFMD Summit in Istanbul in 2015 endorsed the establishment of an ad hoc Working Group on 2030 Agenda (later to be renamed as Working Group on 2030 Agenda and the GCM) in order to consider the best ways for the GFMD to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and to contribute to its follow-up and review process. The Working Group presented a report during the 2016 GFMD Summit in Dhaka which suggested that the GFMD could best support the follow-up and implementation of migration-related commitments in the 2030 Agenda by:

1. Providing a platform for voluntary sharing of experiences, progress, and evidence on migration aspects of the 2030 Agenda.
2. Facilitating voluntary action by building partnerships on migration-related aspects of the 2030 Agenda.
3. Informing Member States, Observers, and relevant organizations of migration-related aspects of the 2030 Agenda, and seeking their input.

One of the most significant contributions of the GFMD process to the 2030 Agenda has been its annual reports to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). Each year since 2017, the ECOSOC has invited the GFMD to contribute a thematic input to the HLPF regarding the implementation of the SDGs and respective targets that are most relevant to the GFMD’s mandate. To present the findings of its annual report, the GFMD has, since 2017, held a side event on the margins of the HLPF each year.