A Discussion in Preparation for October’s High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development: What Can We Expect?

The October 2013 UN High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development offers a rare opportunity for governments to open a new chapter of cooperative policy making on a force – international migration – that is fundamental to both human and national development.   

Only once before in its history has the United Nations General Assembly held a meeting dedicated to international migration. The High-Level Dialogue of 2006 led to the creation of an important new international forum, the Global Forum on Migration and Development, which has met every year since 2007, with the participation of more than 150 national governments. What will be the outcome of this year’s High-Level Dialogue? Could it lead to commitments from states that result in greater gains from international migration while reducing some of its costs? 

Speakers on this teleconference discuss what we can expect from the High-Level Dialogue: what the major topics of debate will be, what policy areas are ripe for action, and what impact the High-Level Dialogue may have on the Global Forum on Migration and Development and the post-2015 development agenda.