Minister of Home Affairs, Naledi Pandor will later today, Monday 30 September 2013, depart for New York where she will lead the South African Government delegation to the UN High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development scheduled for 3 to 4 October 2013.
The theme of this year’s Dialogue is “Identifying concrete measures to strengthen coherence and cooperation at all levels, with a view to enhancing the benefits of international migration for migrants and countries alike and its important links to development, while reducing its negative implications”
This year’s Dialogue comes within the context of the acknowledgment by United Nations General Assembly High Level Summit held in 2005 of the existing link between international migration and development .
The UN has planned for four plenary sessions based on four interactive round-table discussions, with the latter being chaired two representatives appointed by the current President of the UN General Assembly.
The round-table discussions will focus on the following issues:
1. Roundtable 1: Effects of international migration on sustainable development and identifying relevant priorities in view of the preparation on the post-2015 development framework
2. Roundtable 2: Measures to ensure respect for and protection of the human rights of all migrants, with particular reference to women and children, as well as to prevent and combat the smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons and to ensure orderly, regular and safe migration;
3. Roundtable 3: Strengthening partnerships and cooperation on international migration, mechanisms to effectively integrate migration into development policies and promoting coherence at all levels;
4. Roundtable 4: International and regional labour mobility and its impact on development.
