Ad-Hoc Working Group on Policy Coherence, Data and Research
Since the inception of the GFMD, policy and institutional coherence on migration and development has been recognized as a mainstay of the GFMD process. Concurrently, the availability of timely and accessible migration and development data, and related research, was considered essential for governments to develop coherent and evidence-based policies. This crucial link was discussed extensively at the 2008 Manila GFMD, following which the GFMD Steering Group endorsed the creation of an ad-hoc Working Group on Policy Coherence, Data and Research in July 2009, with a view to ensuring continued attention to the two inter-related areas.
The objective of the working group is to foster a commonality of understanding within the GFMD about the importance of policy coherence and related data and research findings; to promote ongoing attention and follow-up to these issues in between annual GFMD meetings; and to foster inter-action between governments and international expert and other institutions.
13 governments currently participate in the (open-ended) working group (Morocco and Switzerland as co-chairs, Argentina, Bangladesh, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, and the UK). The group includes such GMG agencies as ILO, IOM, OHCHR, UNDP, UNDESA, UNFPA, UNITAR, UNICEF, and the World Bank, as well as ICMPD, EC and OECD. Civil Society bodies, such as the Institute for the Study of International Migration (Georgetown University), the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and the MacArthur Foundation also participate.
Achievements and outcomes
Since 2009, the working group has focused on selected outcomes from earlier GFMD meetings, relating to (1) policy and institutional coherence; (2) data collection and research; (3) impact assessments of migration and development policies and practices in migrant integration, migrant return and reintegration, circular migration and diaspora contributions, (4) promoting the implementation of migration profiles by interested governments; and (5) mainstreaming migration into poverty reduction strategies.
In pursuit of these focus areas, the working group:
- called on the Friends of the Forum, in early 2010, to use the 2010 Round of Population Censuses as an important opportunity to collect international migration data, that National Statistics Offices should be alerted to this effect and that the guidelines of the ‘Migrants Count’ Report should be used for this purpose
- prepared a ‘Five Clusters of GFMD Outcomes’ document on policy coherence, data and research
- carried out a major informal inquiry (survey) with GFMD governments on policy and institutional coherence (including the role of the GFMD national focal points, intra-governmental coordination and coherence, and data collection and research activities)
- carried out an informal inquiry (survey) with GFMD governments on migration and development policy impacts assessments
- in June/July 2010, organized a seminar in Vienna on ‘Assessing the impacts of migration and development policies’, which also focused on migration and development mainstreaming and on Migration Profiles, with participation of both governments and non-governmental actors
- prepared an Information Note on Migration Profiles, in support of the 2010 Puerto Vallarta discussions on the same subject, and
- prepared outcomes matrixes of the Manila, Athens and Puerto Vallarta GFMD meetings.
The following documents can be downloaded here:
- Summary Report of the Second WG Meeting of 4 December 2009
- Document calling on the Friends of the Forum concerning the 2010 Round of Population Censuses
- 'Five Clusters of GFMD Outcomes' document on policy coherence, data and research
- 2009 Analysis of Informal Inquiry on Policy and Institutional Coherence
- 2010 Analysis of Informal Inquiry on Policy Impact Assessments
- Summary Report of the June/July 2010 Vienna Seminar on Policy Impact Assessments
- 2010 Information Note on Migration Profiles, in preparation of the Puerto Vallarta GFMD
- GFMD outcomes matrixes of Brussels, Manila, Athens and Puerto Vallarta
- Summary Report of the Third WG Meeting of 26 January 2011
Priorities 2011
In 2011, the Working Group on Policy Coherence, Data and Research agreed to align its work plan with the Swiss GFMD thematic agenda, while pursuing the recommendations and outcomes of the Puerto Vallarta GFMD and its previous activities and focus areas.
The priority areas for 2011 are:
- Impact assessment of migration policies and practices on development: The Working Group will support a workshop in Marseille, with governments from different regions, experts and international agencies, in conjunction with the World Bank and IOM.
- Continue raising awareness of promoting the implementation of Migration Profiles with interested governments: The Working Group will support various thematic meetings in different regions (and cross-regional), in conjunction with interested governments and relevant international agencies
- Subject to further consultation wit UNDP and IOM, the Working Group will support workshops with governments in different locations, related to the GMG launching of the ‘Handbook on mainstreaming migration into development planning’
