Global forum on migration and development held in Brussels

Philippine Ambassador to Belgium Cristina Ortega reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the First Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) was held in Brussels on 10 and 11 July 2007 to effectively address the implications, challenges and opportunities for greater coherence between migration and development policies among countries of origin and destination.

The GFMD is an inter-state, informal and non-binding process for discussion of the various issues concerning international migration and its interconnectivity to development. The First GFMD was spearheaded by the Kingdom of Belgium, following the UN High Level Dialogue (HLD) on Migration and Development held in New York last September 2006.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs Esteban B. Conejos, Jr. headed the delegation from the Department of Foreign Affairs. Other members of the DFA delegation included Ambassador Ortega; Ambassador Enrique Manalo and Consul General Grace Princesa of the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva; and Special Assistant Estrella L. Roman of DFA-OUMWA.

The Philippines' participation in the First GFMD is part of the Government's policy to promote the rights and protect the welfare of Filipino migrant workers. Undersecretary Conejos has also represented the Department in three preparatory meetings among "Friends of the Forum" held in Brussels and Geneva.

The DFA delegation was joined at the Forum by representatives from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), namely, Undersecretary Danilo Cruz and Labor Attaché Manuel Imson of the Philippine Mission in Geneva. Labor Attaché Ciriaco Lagunzad of the Philippine Embassy in Brussels, on the other hand, was a member of the Belgian Task Force that organized the First GFMD. Other Philippine government officials who participated in the Forum were Chairman Patricia Sto. Tomas of the Development Bank of the Philippines, Vice Governor Diwa Gunigundo of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, OWWA Administrator Marianito Roque, and POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz.

The officials represented the Philippine Government in the First GFMD at the plenary and roundtable discussions. Aside from monitoring the proceedings of the two-day consultative forum, the officials also articulated the Philippine policies on labor migration and its link to development, and advanced the Government's agenda on protection and promotion of the rights and welfare of migrant Filipino workers and their families.

Around 144 UN member countries participated in the two-day Forum. At the same time, nearly 200 representatives from civil society actors such as NGOs, trade unions, the academe, church-based groups, and the private sector gathered at the Palais d'Egmont in Brussels for Civil Society Day, where they discussed the same topics that the government actors tackled during the Forum, and submitted their findings and recommendations to the inter-state forum on 11 July.

The Philippines has a special participation in the First GFMD as the host of the Second GFMD, which will be held in Manila next year. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has approved the Philippine hosting of the Second GFMD as a clear and concrete exercise of political will to advance the rights of migrant Filipino workers, to share Philippine experiences in managing labor migration, and to influence global perspectives and policies in aid of protecting the rights and welfare of migrant citizens. (DFA)