Join MIDEQ on 20 May 2022 at 8:30 EDT/13:30 BST, for a discussion on what we know about the relationships between migration and inequality, and what we can do to ensure that equality is central to the implementation of the Global Compact on Migration. The event is co-convened by UNU CPR and UN Human Rights (OHCHR) and is a side event at the UN's first International Migration Review Forum.
In 2022, nearly four years after the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), governments, stakeholders and the United Nations system will meet to discuss the successes and challenges of implementing this landmark cooperative framework. The first International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) is being held under the auspices of the General Assembly, chaired by the President of the General Assembly, at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York from 17-20 May 2022, with a preparatory stakeholder hearing taking place on 16 May. A series of IMRF side-events are being organized in the margins of the IMRF. They provide an opportunity to discuss good practices, challenges and recommendations to further the implementation of the GCM.
Side event details
The potential of migration to contribute to development and delivery of the SDGs is widely acknowledged but remains unrealized, in large part due to intersectional inequalities at the global, national and local levels which determine who is (and is not) able to migrate and under what conditions. These inequalities, many of which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, are associated with a lack of rights for migrants and their families, difficult, expensive and sometimes dangerous journeys, and inequitable development outcomes. Whilst the GCM refers to issues of gender equality, it does not explicitly address the relationships between inequality and migration more generally, or the ways in which inequalities in the outcomes of migration can be exacerbated by policy approaches, which decontextualize migration from broader processes of economic, social and political change. Co-convened by UNU-CPR and OHCHR, this event brings together high-level speakers from the UN, OECD, academia and civil society to deepen academic and policy understandings of the relationships between migration and inequality, focusing on the implications of these relationships for the implementation of the GCM. The event also provides an opportunity for participants to learn more about the substantial new body of qualitative and quantitative data generated by the MIDEQ Hub (www.mideq.org), an international collaboration of nearly 100 scholars across five continents which aims to build an evidence-based understanding of the relationships between migration and inequality.
Format
This is a hybrid event with participation in person and online. The panel discussion will consist of representatives of UN, OECD, academia and civil society, who will be discussing the relationships between migration and inequality based on their own research and experiences and identifying good practices to ensure that equality is centred in the implementation of the Global Compact on Migration.
Chair
Professor Heaven Crawley is Head of Equitable Development and Migration at UNU-CPR and Director of the MIDEQ Hub, an international research project focusing on the relationships between migration, inequality and development in the context of the Global South.
Speakers
Professor Louis Herns Marcelin is Associate Dean for Program Development and Professor of Social Sciences at the University of Miami, Chancellor of the Interuniversity Institute for Research and Development (INURED) in Haiti and Co-Director of the MIDEQ Hub.
Dr Pia Oberoi is Senior Advisor on Migration and Human Rights for the Asia Pacific Region based in the Bangkok office of the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR). She is responsible for developing and implementing research and policy on migration and human rights in the region.
Dr Jason Gagnon is a development economist with the OECD Development Centre and leads its work on migration and development, producing empirically based policy reports, coordinating its Policy Dialogue on Migration and Development (PDMD).