14th Coordination Meeting on International Migration

 

14th Coordination Meeting on International Migration

Remarks delivered by Lucas Tavares, FAO Liaison Officer to the UN

26 February 2016, United Nations, New York

 

 

Mr. Chair

 

Thank you for giving me the floor and for the opportunity to share some aspects of the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) work on migration.

 

Migration and remittances are explicitly reflected in FAO’s strategic program for rural poverty reduction, one of our five corporate priorities. And it is linked to our work on food security & nutrition, natural resource management and resilience that are also FAO priorities.

 

FAO provides technical support and capacity development to assist member states in addressing the root causes of distress migration by working in three main areas:

 

• First, enhance policy coherence and help Governments better incorporate migration into agriculture, food security and rural development policies, strategies and programmes;
• Second, strengthen policy dialogue and policy coordination across key sectors and stakeholders; and,
• Third, pilot and scale up innovative mechanisms to improve the management of rural migration; promote creation of decent jobs in agriculture and rural areas, with a focus on youth; and, enhancing resilience.

 

The socio-economic root causes of distress migration include persistent economic distress, poverty, hunger, changing demographics, inequalities and pressure on natural resources.

 

Creating employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in agriculture and rural areas, particularly for youth, can significantly contribute to ease migratory pressures.

 

One example of this effort is a project funded by the Government of Italy that FAO began implementing in 2015. The project is building capacity in governments of Tunisia and Ethiopia to address the root causes of migration and promoting innovative mechanisms to foster decent youth employment in rural areas. Lessons learned and good practices identified will feed into global policy fora and discussions.

 

I would like to add that FAO´s work is closely aligned with and supports the 2030 Development Agenda. We supported countries in building the agenda. We are contributing to the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goals. And we are ready to assist countries in transforming their political commitment into concrete results.

 

In these efforts, FAO does not work alone. Our fieldwork is done in close collaboration with national and international partners – UN and non-UN bodies, governments, local communities, and non-state actors.

 

We are increasingly active in global cooperation mechanisms, such as the Global Migration Group (GMG), the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development, and the Global Remittances Working Group. Through the GMG we are part of the effort to support the Global Forum on Migration and Development and the preparation of the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants.

 

We look forward to continue assisting governments in creating rural opportunities in countries of origin so that migration is a voluntary and informed option, but not a desperate last resort.

 

For more information on FAO’s work on migration please see our contribution to this Fourteenth Coordination Meeting and the FAO dedicated website on migration.

 

Thank you for your attention.