A one day consultative forum, organized by the UN Network on Migration, comprising of focal persons from the UN system in Liberia and relevant Ministries and Agencies to brief the government about the establishment of the UN Network on Migration in Liberia and the Global Compact on Migration (GCM) took place yesterday, Tuesday, September 21, 2021 at the One UN House, Monrovia.
The UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Neils Scott, described the occasion as very important for migration, noting “migration is an engine of economic growth, innovation, and sustainable development. Mr. Scott said migration is a key target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and development platforms of Member States of the UN. The UN boss mentioned that in order to harness the benefits of migration, Member States of the United Nations (UN) adopted the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) in 2018 to enhance international cooperation on migration. He indicated that the GCM is the first comprehensive global framework that seeks holistic management of migration and maximizes the interlinkages and shared complementarities between foreign and domestic policies to achieve broad developmental goals.
The top UN diplomat said the UN Network on Migration was set up in Liberia to support the government in ensuring effective implementation, follow-up and review of the GCM.
Speaking on behalf of the Liberian Government, Assistant Minister for Development Planning at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Mr. Benedict Kolubah, reaffirmed the government’s commitment for the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration in Liberia. Mr. Kolubah said the Global Compact for Migration is a multi-dimensional policy framework adopted by Member States of the United Nations to mainstream migration in national development programs. The Minister praised the UN for setting up a UN Network on Migration in Liberia.
“Mainstreaming the Global Compact on Migration was a key commitment made by Member States of the United Nations including Liberia in 2018 upon its adoption at the Intergovernmental Conference in Morocco,” Kolubah stressed.
He however lamented that much has not been done in Liberia to implement and review the Compact due to weak resource capacity and limited understanding of the Compact. Kolubah called on the United Nations System to step up its engagement and support with the government to ensure that Liberia is capacitated to effectively implement and review the Compact.
For her part, Madam Ana Fonseca, Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), who spoke via webinar stressed that fostering migration governance through the implementation of the GCM is a key undertaking. She said IOM and the UN Network on Migration are committed to working with the Government of Liberia and other stakeholders in enhancing the work of the UN Network on Migration.
The UN Network on Migration was established in August this year by the United Nations Country Team and is co-chaired by the UN Resident Coordinator and the IOM Chief of Mission. Ministries of Finance and Development Planning, Labor and Health, LRRRC, Liberia National Police and Liberia Immigration service were institutions of government that joined UN agencies in Liberia at the meeting.
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