The Jesuit Refugee Service will participate in the 'Civil Society Days' of the 2nd annual Global Forum on Migration and Development, to take place in Manila on 27-28 October. The outgoing European Regional Director, Fr. Jan Stuyt SJ, will represent JRS at the two-day meeting where up to 200 other Civil Society organisations will also participate. JRS' main priority at the Forum will be to advocate on behalf of the forcibly displaced, and the potential that they have to participate in development programmes and projects in host and home countries.

The Global Forum on Migration and Development is a new initiative of the international community to address the migration and development interconnections in practical and action-oriented ways. It marks the culmination of more than a decade of international discussion on the growing importance of these linkages, and the progressive acknowledgement of the need to address the policy implications and responses in a multilateral framework. The Forum exists outside the UN framework and does not have decision-making status. www


The following documents form JRS' position for the Forum and for the issue of migration and development:

   -   JRS statement for Global Forum on Migration and Development 2008
   -   JRS-Liberia Experiences in forced migration and development
   -   JRS position on incorporating the Forcibly Displaced into development