African Union- Global Forum on Migration and Development Consultations

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AU GFMD Regional Consultation 

In the vision for its Chairmanship of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) over the course of 2020, UAE sets out a commitment to fostering a year-long process. To that end, the AU-GFMD Regional Meetings were proposed to take place in May 2020. These Regional Meetings are designed to encourage the incorporation of more local and regional perspectives into the background papers, for discussion by GFMD participants at the end-of-year Summit, as well as stimulating the formation of partnerships on relevant issues. The focused on the following themes: The Governance of Labour Migration in the Context of Changing Employment Landscapes, Skilling Migrants for Employment, and Addressing Gaps in Migrant Protection.

Between March and April, the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth (UN MGCY) led an open Africa regional consultation on youth perspectives and priorities on these three topics, for which we consulted 25 locally-based youth-led and youth-focused organizations with national or international focus, acting in 21 countries, and representing over 700 young leaders in migration issues. The results of these consultations are summarized in three policy briefs.

UN MGCY’s Africa Focal Points then brought these key issues and voices to the AU-GFMD process which was divided into French and English sessions.

They participated and co-organized the civil society preparatory consultations ahead of the AU-GFMD meetings. On 12th May 2020 and 19th May 2020, the Africa Focal Points fully participated in the main English AU-GFMD opening ceremony and all the three breakout sessions respectively. On the 14th May, the Africa Focal Points again fully participated in the main French AU-GFMD opening ceremony. The AU GFMD French breakout sessions as well as the closing ceremony for both French and English are slated to take place next month, June 2020. The Migration Working at the UN MGCY through the Africa Focal Points will continue to meaningfully engage the AU-GFMD regional processes to ensure that youth voices are heard at the highest levels and taken into consideration when identifying priorities and designing solutions.

For any questions on this submission please contact our Global Focal Point at migrationgfp@unmgcy.org

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