PH Champions Improved Global Migration Governance in Recent IOM Council Session
Philippine Permanent Representative to the United nations and Other International Organizations Evan P. Garcia serves as the Vice Chairperson of the IOM Council during its in the 110th Session. (Geneva PM photo)
GENEVA 13 December 2019 –– The Philippines called for greater multilateral cooperation on migration governance as it shared its views and priorities on the promotion of a safe, orderly and regular migration on 26-29 November 2019
Ambassador Evan P. Garcia, who serves as the vice chairperson of the IOM Council during the 110th Session of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Council, stated that “for the Philippines, the GCM was a vital platform for facilitating open discussions on all aspects of migration, and for all parties to discuss their interests, be they national, regional or global in scope. It has been a year since the GCM was adopted, and in our national context, we have found the articulation of its objectives to be a useful impetus for re-energized bilateral and regional discussions, and a good basis for enriching existing agreements along clearer lines.”
Ambassador Garcia emphasized that “it is our shared responsibility as an international community, through the IOM, through the implementation of the GCM, and through several relevant arrangements at all levels, to preserve and protect the human rights of migrants as individual rights-bearers, and to balance the excessively negative narrative to which migration has been subjected.”
In his reply to the Philippine statement, IOM Director General (DG) Antonio Vitorino congratulated the Philippines for being one of the first countries that adopted a national implementation plan for the GCM, and welcomed the participation of the Philippines as a member of the Steering Committee of the start-up fund for the Compact, the Migration Multi Partnership Trust Fund (MPTF), which will have its first meeting on 10 December 2019 in Geneva.
The DG affirmed the readiness of the IOM to support Member States in achieving their priorities in implementing the GCM objectives appropriate to their national contexts, not just at the global level but also with the UN Country Team. On the reality that large movement of people involves mixed flows of migration, the DG emphasized the need to provide services to all people in need, even if they do not fall within the legal definitions of international protected persons.
Ambassador Garcia serves as Member of the Bureau and First Vice Chair of the 110th Session of the IOM Council. The Council Session is being held from 26 to 29 November 2019 at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Conference Hall. END
For more information, visit https://www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinGenevaUN/.