Monrovia - Speaking at a one-day training held on Tuesday, 30 November 2021 on integrating migration in UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for Liberia and Common Country Analysis (CCA) organized for the UN Country Team and the Government of Liberia, UN resident Coordinator in Liberia, Mr. Neils Scott described the training as critical to the implementation of the GCM in Liberia. He said the training was intended to deepen understanding of the UN agencies and the Government on appropriate ways to integrate migration into the UN Cooperation Framework and the national development agenda of Liberia and indicated that substantive efforts must be made to achieve the goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adding “we are now less than 9 years away from the deadline to achieve the goals of 2030 Agenda.

He praised the Liberian government and the UN Agency on Migration, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as well as the UN Country Team in Liberia for their relentless efforts in ensuring the establishment of the UN Network on Migration in Liberia.
Speaking on behalf of the Government of Liberia, Assistant Minister for Planning and Research at the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection, Rooselvelt Klafleh thanked the UN system in Liberia for its continued support to the government and people of Liberia in all aspects of national development. Mr. Klafeh lamented that Liberia is behind in the implementation of the Global Compact for Migration and called on the UN system to step up its collaboration and support to the government in promoting the effective implementation of the global commitment. He avowed the government’s commitment and political will in fostering the integration of migration in the government’s Pro Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PADP). “The government has done quite well in Liberia in promoting migration and much will still be done,” Assistant Minister Klafleh stressed.
For her part, IOM Chief of Mission, Mrs. Ana Fonseca expressed joy about the training which she said was the first of its kind in the country to target capacity building in rolling out the GCM. She emphasized that the training would provide policymakers and the UN Agencies with the requisite knowledge and appropriate tools to develop and implement migration policies and cross-cutting activities in Liberia in relation to the 2030 Agenda.

The Global Compact for Migration is the first inter-governmentally negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, covering all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner. It is a non-binding document that respects states’ sovereign right to determine who enters and stays in their territory and demonstrates commitment to international cooperation on migration. It presents a significant opportunity to improve the governance of migration, to address the challenges associated with today’s migration, and to strengthen the contribution of migrants and migration to sustainable development. The Global Compact is framed in a way consistent with target 10.7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in which Member States committed to cooperate internationally to facilitate safe, orderly, and regular migration.
A release from the IOM said the Global Compact is designed to support international cooperation on the governance of international migration; provide a comprehensive menu of options for States from which they can select policy options to address some of the most pressing issues around international migration; and give states the space and flexibility to pursue implementation based on their own migration realities and capacities.

“The Global Compact for Migration was adopted by Member States of the UN in Marrakech, Morocco on December 19, 2018. The inclusion of migration in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the adoption of the GCM present a momentous opportunity for UN Country Teams (UNCTs) to systematically integrate migration into all relevant areas and stages of their work, in alignment with and as part of the implementation of these two frameworks.  In the context of ongoing reform of the United Nations Development System (UNDS), the GCM presents an opportunity to work in partnership across the UNDS and with governments to maximize the potential of migration to achieve sustainable development outcomes’’ the release said. The training brought together UN agencies and related ministries and agencies of the Government of Liberia and was held at the Kofi Annan Hall at the One UN House in Monrovia.