To what extent the civil society will take part in the implementation and monitoring of GCM process, needs to be clarified. Syeed Ahamed, the CEO of IID, raised the issue at the ‘Regional Consultation on GCM implementation’.
He continued by saying, the civil society also needs to be mindful of the dilemma with its double role in monitoring and implementingf GCM. If policy advocacy becomes part of implementation agencies then it will be difficult for them to remain an independent agency to monitor government’s success in implementing GCM. On the other hand, if the civil society becomes only a monitoring agency and do not take part in the implementation process, there is a chance that they will be excluded from the process and also the benefits of the public-private partnership, which is essential for the proper implementation of GCM.
The ‘Regional Consultation on GCM implementation’ was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) on 4th May 2019. The consultation was a part of United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of ‘Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM)’ on 19 December 2018. The consultation took the form of a workshop, organized into technical segments, with an aim to identify the specific challenges that the region faces regarding migration and present existing policies and practices in response to these challenges.
The participants included a number of relevant national government stakeholders, development partners, international organizations, NGOs, civil society, academic institutions, government institutions and other key actors working on issues related to migration. Mr. Md. Nazrul Islam, Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the focal person for the event. Among others Imran Ahmed, State Minister, Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, Dr. AK Abdul Momen, Foreign Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Md. Shahriar Alam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs and Md. Shahidul Haque, Foreign Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present at the event.
Syeed Ahamed also thanked the secretary for advocating for civil society’s greater role in implementing and monitoring the GCM, to the global organizations such as UN body. But, at the same time urged that, while in the global forum the advocacy of civil society will strengthen the implementation process of GCM, the government of Bangladesh should find a proper place for civil society in the GCM implementation process.
