Regional Civil Society Consultations

Seven Regional Civil Society Consultations will be organised in 2017 to help ensure that the voices of local and regional civil society organizations, particularly those of migrants, diaspora, and grassroots communities, are heard at the global level.

The modalities resolution (A/RES/71/280) detailing the process leading to adoption of a global compact on migration emphasizes the importance of contributions that take into account different realities, and therefore encourages effective contributions from and the active participation of all relevant stakeholders, at all stages of the preparatory process and at the conference itself, including by the sharing of best practices and concrete policies, for example, through the convening of national multi-stakeholder consultations and participation in global, regional and sub-regional platforms (paragraph 7).

Recognizing that adequately capturing the varying realities of each region and the diverse perspectives from a diverse range of civil society organizations, as well as ensuring effective civil society contributions will be a challenge, regional civil society networks (with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)), will organize a series of seven Regional Civil Society Consultations (RCSCs). The RCSCs will be an opportunity to consolidate civil society stakeholder inputs by region, to contribute as key inputs for the consultation phase of the GCM.  The RCSCs will also support the effort of making the voices of local and regional civil society organizations (particularly those of migrants, diaspora, and grassroots communities) heard at the global level.

Asia
Dates:  4-5 August 2017
Location:  Bangkok, Thailand
Anchored by:  Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA)
Contact:  mfa@mfasia.org

Middle-East and North Africa(MENA)
Dates:  24-25 August 2017
Location:  Beirut, Lebanon
Anchored by:  Cross-Regional Center for Refugees and Migrants (CCRM)
Contact:  rhamati@insanlb.org

Africa
Dates:  28-29 August 2017
Location:  Bamako, Mali
Anchored by:  Pan-African Network in Defense of Migrants Rights (PANiDMR) and MADE-Afrique
Contact:  mamadou_goita@yahoo.fr

North America
Dates:  25-26 September
Location:  Washington DC, USA
Anchored by:  National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights (NNIRR) in collaboration with US-based working group
Contact:  ctactaquin@nnirr.org

Europe
Dates:  2-3 October
Location:  Brussels, Belgium
Anchored by:  Migration and Development Civil Society Network (MADE) and Platform for the International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)
Contact:  haasen@icmc.net

Latin America & the Caribbean
Dates:  5-6 October 2017
Location:  Quito, Ecuador
Anchored by:  Latin America Block, technical focal point by Asylum Access Ecuador
Contact:  berevrnice@gmail.com

Pacific
Dates:  2-3 November 2017
Location:  Nadi, Fiji
Anchored by:  The Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO), Fiji Citizens Constitutional Forum (CCF), in partnership with Sydney Asia Pacific Migration Center (SAPMiC) (Sydney University), the Diplomacy Training Program (DTP) (Univ. of NSW), Migrant Forum Asia (MFA).  
Contact:  dtp@unsw.edu.au