Many of today’s international migration policies and norms have been devised and set by an influential group known as the Global Migration Group. The Global Migration Group was devised by the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, in 2006. It’s an inter-agency group bringing together key opinion leaders involved in the area of global migration. The Global Migration Group main focus was to improve and address the challenges posed by international migration, says global relocation expert NY based attorney Jon Purizhansky.
The Global Migration Group was particularly effective as it was comprised of 14 UN agencies, the World Bank, and the International Organization for Migration to address migration issues. The neutrality of the group was maintained through a 6-month rotating chair by various member agency. Accordingly, during each 6-month a new theme was adopted to help guide the Group’s activity per term. UNICEF was one of the Group’s members and adopted the theme of youth and climate change during two of the 6 month terms it chaired. These are topics particular of interest to UNICEF hence it was able to drive the Group’s focus on these themes while shaping the activities of the Group. Other themes adopted by the Group include correlations between migrations and the environmental impact, human settlement, and population movement.
Global migration is a topic that impacts hundreds of millions of people around the world, says Jon Purizhansky. It is critical to have global support to provide a safe and effective infrastructure in this area. The topic is so broad that impacts numerous other topics — such as human rights, women’s rights, climate change, wealth and income disparity, immigration, all traversing through geo-political lines and corporate profit. Accordingly, the Group can help provide a legal and political framework to address issues that may arise through cross-border migration. It provides a basis for countries to solve issues that may arise without having to start from square one.
One of the Group’s main focuses is upon the impacts of migration on youth. Younger populations are very much impacted by migration as they are more willing to seek new opportunities around the world. While these opportunities may provide monetary gain, there are also inherent risks and other issues imposed. Along with global migration comes placing culturally different people together in new environments. Greater equal opportunity in communities of origin, transit and destination can ensure the well being of young migrants and maximize their contributions as workers, entrepreneurs, students and members of society, says Jon Purizhansky.
