Welcome to the United Nations
The Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) was created as a multilateral platform for discussion and collaboration outside of the UN system at a time (2006) when international migration was considered to be too controversial for constructive debate within the formal structures of the UN system. It was set up to be led by rotating states rather than a permanent structure, to be informal in its proceedings and to take no binding collective decisions. Since its first meeting in 2007, the GFMD has evolved in many ways. Most importantly, it has gradually created space for the voices of other stakeholders to be heard and to participate in deliberations, even as its three central modes of operation—state-led, informal and non-binding—have remained.
