On 19 September 2016, the UN General Assembly will host a Summit at UN Headquarters in New York to address large movements of refugees and migrants, with the aim of bringing countries together behind a more humane and coordinated approach. At the request of the Office of the President of the UN General Assembly, UN-NGLS and UN DESA are facilitating an open and participatory process to identify attendees and speakers for this event and its preparatory process. The civil society speakers for the Summit have now been selected by the President of the General Assembly.
UN-NGLS facilitated a Civil Society Steering Committee to review more than 400 applications for the speaking roles for the 19 September Summit, and more than 200 applications for the 18 July hearings, and create regionally and gender balanced short-lists of candidates for the President of the UN General Assembly to consider. The President of the UN General Assembly selected the following nine speakers for the 19 September Summit through this process:
Opening Session
Ms. Nadia Taha
Yazda
Germany / Iraq
Ms. Eni Lestari Andayani Adi
International Migrants Alliance (IMA)
China / Indonesia
Mr. Mohammed Badran
Syrian Volunteers in the Netherlands (SYVNL)
Netherlands / Syrian Arab Republic
Roundtable Dialogues
1) Addressing the root causes of refugee movement
Ms. Joyce Foni
Women's Refugee Commission
Kenya / Sudan
2) Addressing drivers of migration, particularly large movements, and highlighting the positive contributions of migrants
Ms. Jille Belisario
Commission for Filipino Migrant Workers (CFMW)
Philippines
3) International action and cooperation on refugees and migrants, and issues related to displacement; the way ahead
Mr. Gibril Faal
African Foundation for Development (AFFORD)
UK / Gambia
4) Global compact for responsibility sharing for refugees and respect for international law
Ms. Elba Yanett Coria Marquez
SOS Children Villages
Mexico
5) Global compact for safe, regular and orderly migration; Towards realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieving the full respect for the human rights of migrants
Mr. Tefere Gebre
AFL-CIO
US / Ethiopia
6) Addressing the vulnerabilities of refugees and migrants on their journeys from their countries of origins to their countries of arrival
Ms. Eleanor Acer
Human Rights First
USA
Videos of each of these speakers' remarks during the Summit may be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6my54kL4fLLwW9Gtsj5GwVpFMIelo81K
Travel funding was provided for several of the the speakers selected through this process, for both the 18 July and 19 September event. The application process for the 18 July hearings and the 19 September Summit is closed. Late registrations cannot be accepted.
The programme for the 19 September Summit is available here:
https://refugeesmigrants.un.org/summit
The concept note for the 19 September Summit is available here:
http://www.un.org/pga/70/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/HLM-on-addressing-large-movements-of-refugees-and-migrants-Concept-Note-8-September-2016.pdf
A list of side events for the Summit inside and outside the UN that are open to observers may be found here: http://bit.ly/2016-UNGA-side-event-listing
If you are organizing a side event and would like to add it to that list, please complete the form here: http://bit.ly/2016-Post-your-UNGA-side-event
The programme for the 18 July hearings is available here:
http://www.un.org/pga/70/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/Refugees-and-Migrants-inf.interactive-multistakeholder-hearing-14-July-2016.pdf
The President of the General Assembly's Summary of the hearings is available here:
http://www.un.org/pga/70/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/08/Refugees-and-Migrants-Summary-of-hearings-22-July-2016.pdf
Sign up to receive email announcements about the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants here:
https://groups.google.com/d/forum/un-summit-refugees-migrants-announcements-to-csos
More information about the Summit for Refugees and Migrants is available here:
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/events/ga/2016/addressrefugeesmigrantssummit.html
and here:
http://refugeesmigrants.un.org/summit-refugees-and-migrants
The deadlines to apply to attend or speak at the Summit were:
24 May: Apply for the Stakeholder Steering Committee
13 June: Apply to speak at the 18 July informal stakeholder hearings
8 July: Apply to attend the 18 July informal stakeholder hearings
21 July: Apply to attend or speak at the 19 September high-level meeting
Members of the Civil Society Steering Committee for the 19 September HLM and 18 July hearings:
ActionAid UK
African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation
Amnesty International / Strategy for Humanity
Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD)
Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants
Asylum Access Latin America
Center for Development Support Initiatives (CEDSI)
Himilo Relief and Development Association (HIRDA)
INHURED International
International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC)
International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
International Detention Coalition
International Disability Alliance
International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP)
Kenana Association for Women Empowerment
NGO Committee on Migration
Pacific Islands Association of NGOs (PIANGO)
Priority Africa Network
Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN)
SWITxBOARD / Innovation and Planning Agency
Trade Union Confederation of the Americas - TUCA Brazil
United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
Women and Global Migration Working Group
Women's League of Burma
Women's Refugee Commission
