One of civil society’s key objectives is to strive for more, direct, and constructive engagement with governments. The need to strengthen interaction between civil society and government representatives in the context of the GFMD has repeatedly been stressed by a great majority of civil society representatives during each of the four previous Civil Society Days (2007 – 2010).

The GFMD format under the Swiss Chairmanship offers 2 concrete avenues for shared spaces between civil society and government representatives:

(1) a “Common Space” during the opening session of the Government Forum and
(2) interaction within the various (States’) Thematic Meetings organized by the Swiss Chair.

In addition the Civil Society Days (CSD) also intend to make productive use of the presence of large numbers of representatives of civil society from around the world and governments officials gathering in Geneva for the Global Forum that last week of November.  More information will follow shortly.

Common Space

“Looking at the Big Picture: Demographics, Youth (Un-) Employment, Development and Migration”

At the GFMD in 2010, the Mexican Chair pioneered a “Common Space”; converting almost all of the opening plenary of the yearend GFMD meeting of states into a more open and interactive session engaged a cross-section of panelists and delegates from governments, civil society organizations and international organizations. The Common space was widely perceived by governments and civil society alike as a positive contribution towards joint engagement, conversation and cooperation among these actors.

This year, the opening session of the Government Forum on 1 December 2011 will be  organized along similar lines. As in prior years, following a limited number of opening greetings, e.g., by the GFMD Chair and hosts and from the UN Secretary General, the formal statement of results and recommendations from the CSD will be presented to  the governments.

Thereafter a Common Space will once again feature shared deliberation involving representatives of civil society and international organizations together with government participants. 

With strong advocacy the side of civil society, and consultation from the Swiss Chair with the Civil Society Core Group, the Swiss Chair put forward a Common Space proposal that was endorsed by governments during the Friends of the Forum Meeting on 7 September.

“The Swiss Chair-in-Office proposes that the Common Space 2011 offer an opportunity for GFMD participants to step out from the specific themes of the individual GFMD sessions to consider one of the phenomena that also intersects significantly with development and migration, today and into the foreseeable future: demographics and youth (un)employment.  This phenomenon has relevance to wider GFMD deliberations and thematic working sessions, and invites perspectives from governments, civil society and international organizations in countries of origin, transit and destination.”

Under the guidance of a skilled moderator, the Common Space will be structured around a single plenary, with three elements:

1. a brief opening presentation offering a data-centered, dynamic snapshot of “the big picture” of demographics, youth (unemployment), development and migration.
2. a “café-style” panel discussion on alternatives to irregular migration
3. interaction from the floor

Download the full Common Space proposal here

(States’) Thematic Meetings

In addition to the annual meeting of states on 1 and 2 December, the Swiss Chair is organizing a  number of smaller thematic meetings around the world between January and October 2011. An overview of all thematic meetings, including contact details of organizers, can also be downloaded here.

While these thematic meetings are connected and structured according to the Concept Paper for the States GFMD process, many of the meetings engage not only state participants but also international organizations and civil society actors. However, the specific possibilities in that regard and the actual role of civil society actors in the meetings is ad-hoc and varies per meeting. Some of the thematic meetings are fairly open to civil society participation, whereas other thematic meetings are not open to any civil society representatives, or are limited to certain experts or academia.  Indeed, most of the meetings are “by invitation only”, for state and civil society participants alike. Background papers, participant lists and contact details of the organizers of the thematic meetings can be found on the GFMD website: www.gfmd.org.