GENEVA, (Pakistan Point News - 28th May, 2019) The UAE was selected as the 2020 Chair of the Global Forum for Migration and Development, GFMD, at a meeting held yesterday at the United Nations in Geneva. The UAE will be the first Gulf country to chair the prestigious global summit. The role will add to the significant international focus on the UAE throughout the course of 2020.
With 193 Member States, the global forum is an annual gathering for migration policy makers, with ministers from many countries around the world attending the summit to discuss international migration. The UAE will take over the chairmanship from Ecuador at the summit in Quito this November. Other recent Chairs have included Morocco, Germany, Bangladesh, Turkey, and Sweden.
Welcoming the news, Nasser bin Thani Al Hamli, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, said, "The UAE has been a major supporter of GFMD since it was founded in 2007. As Chair of GFMD, the UAE will play a key role in helping to set the international agenda on a topic of key importance for governments around the world over the course of 2020, complementing our global profile in other major areas. As a top five worldwide destination for overseas workers, the UAE has significant experience of developing innovative policies and chairing GFMD cements our capacity to showcase those experiences in the best possible way."
After thanking collected delegates for the honour, and paying tribute to the government of Ecuador for their efforts this year, Ambassador Obaid Salem Al Zaabi, UAE Permanent Representative to the United Nations, UN, and Other International Organisations in Geneva, said, "Temporary migrants in the Gulf States make an important contribution to development. Alongside their critical role in developing our economies and society, close to 25 percent of global remittances originate in the Gulf, with approximately US$20 billion a year remitted from the UAE alone.
"GFMD has a critical role to play in improving international governance of migration. By providing a neutral space for the discussion of difficult and contentious issues, the GFMD can help rebuild belief and trust in the importance of a global conversation on migration," he added.
The decision to invite the UAE to assume the chairmanship in 2020 was made at a meeting of the 34-member strong GFMD Steering Group.
