Germany and Morocco will jointly assume the chairmanship of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) on 1 January 2017. The symbolic hand-over of the chairmanship to Moroccan State Secretary El Nadir of the Ministry of Moroccan Expatriates and Migration Affairs and to Markus Ederer, State Secretary at Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, will occur today (12 December) during the annual GFMD conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Next year, the focus will be on how the GFMD can contribute to a United Nations Global Compact on Migration. The compact is intended to constitute a strong signal to the international community for an enhanced global migration policy and is to be adopted by the community of states in 2018.

The motto of the GFMD will be “Towards a Global Social Contract on Migration and Development”. In particular, the balance of interests between migrants and their countries of origin, transit states and destinations will be addressed within the framework of regular and orderly migration.

Germany and Morocco will be the first countries to jointly head the GFMD. Through the co‑chairmanship, they will be symbolically bridging the Mediterranean and highlighting the close link between Europe and Africa. This will help emphasise the positive aspects of migration, as well as the need for orderly and safe migration in order to further develop global migration objectives.