The Guyana government says it welcomes the completion of the first round of talks on migration held at the United Nations in New York, describing the deliberations as ‘a milestone in the global migration dialogue.”
The initiative, which involves United Nations member states, is geared towards crafting a “Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM).”
Diaspora as large as national population
A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that Guyana recognizes that its diaspora is at least as large as its internal population and remains mindful of the unsustainable burden of the unmitigated loss of skilled and unskilled persons, irregular movement of people and solely unilateral efforts to address these challenges.
It said that prior to the UN meeting, Guyana held a local national consultative meeting on migration as a means to better inform its position on the Global Compact talks.
Consequently, the State supported the proposal of Guiding Principles, with emphasis on such aspects as a people-centered approach and need for international cooperation; the inclusion of broad, clear, specific and actionable commitments or objectives; as well as for the holistic follow-up of the Global Compact.”
It said that the Zero Draft document reflecting the outcome of the initial meeting will be up for a second round of negotiations from March 12-15 and that six such meetings are scheduled to be held until July this year when UN member states are expected to adopt the GCM.
Guyana is being represented at these talks by Head of the Diaspora Unit, Michael Brotherson, and Director, Multilateral and Global Affairs Department, Troy Torrington.
New York Declaration
Two years ag0, 193 UN member countries adopted the New York Declaration at the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants.
In adopting the Declaration, the countries signaled their readiness to finalize a GCM that not only aligns with goal 10 of the Sustainable Development Goals, but also coordinates the efforts of each UN Member State, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN to protect and empower migrants through policies that ensure safe, orderly and regular migration, the statement noted.
