Final Version of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM)
This is a historic moment.
The first Global Compact for Migration in its kind and we want to thank you all for your collaborative spirits and dynamic co-facilitation.
We also want to thank the Civil Society for the inclusion of young people in this process and we fully stand behind our Civil Society joint statement where some of the main goals of young people were mentioned, such as child detention and climate change induced migration, environmental degradation, as well as slow and sudden-onset natural disasters.
But let us focus on the human beings addressed by this compact. Some of them completely unknowing about this process.
Around 32% of today's migrants are under the age of 30.
Yet, children and youth had no official platform for engagement in this process.
It is with great disappointment we see that youth is no longer mentioned as a relevant stakeholders in the follow-up and review process.
Also that the different needs and possibilities within the group of youth were not properly addressed through the principle of age-responsiveness. To implement the GCM, we cannot treat our 5-year-olds and our 15-year-olds in the same way, though they are entitled to the same rights.
We value that labour rights of migrants were mentioned as well as referring to young people. Nevertheless, the lack of “age-responsive” measures leaves young workers behind, as they are more likely to experience abusive working conditions than adults.
Youth have been recognized as key actors in the implementation of the GCM by the co-facilitators, some UN agencies such as the UNICEF and also Member States.
Throughout the next steps of the implementation, follow-up, and review, youth MUST be included in a meaningful and efficient way. And the implementation has indeed already begun and is ongoing in several of the organisations within the UN Major Group of Children and Youth.
We as youth and children are here to lead the way and to live the implementation and adaptation every day in our communities.
This must be acknowledged.
We should not only be considered as right-holders in need of protection, but also as active members of society and experts in our own fields.
Through consultations organised by youth for youth we have already identified different main issues in different regions that youth would prioritise in order to reach orderly, safe, and regular migration. Through interregional exchange and empowerment we want to build up to a Global Youth Forum. This will be held before the International Conference on Migration in December.
We invite you to join us for the road to Marrakech, a road in line with the Agenda 2030.