The Geneva Centre To Organize On 14 December A Panel Debate On The Migrant And Refugee Crisis At Palais Des Nations In Geneva

16 November 2017, GENEVA – A panel debate will be organized by the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue – a think tank holding special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council – on the challenges and opportunities related to the protracted migrant and refugee crisis affecting Europe and the MENA region.

The debate entitled “Migration and human solidarity, a challenge and an opportunity for Europe and the MENA region” will be held on 14 December 2017 from 10:00 to 12:30 in room XII at the United Nations Office in Geneva.

The panel debate will address the adverse impact of cross-border movement resulting from war-related insecurity and from economic push factors such as the detrimental impact of climate change. Violence and insecurity as well as climate change migration have adversely affected millions of people in the MENA region and have become issues of high importance for the countries in the region and in Europe. The conference will aim at promoting a discussion of this major issue in its Europe-Middle Eastern interactive dimensions rather than through focussing on the two regions separately.

The event will be structured in two main sections with the first part covering forced cross-border movement of people resulting from war-related insecurity affecting countries in the Middle East. The second part will explore the triggering factors contributing to the forced cross-border movement of “climate migrants” from the Sahel region to Europe via North Africa, and the solutions required to redress this situation. These two clusters will offer an inclusive and holistic assessment of, and response to, the protracted climate migrant and refugee crises affecting Europe and the MENA region.

Altogether, the outcomes of the panel debate will contribute to enriching the debate on the UN Global Compact for Migration and Refugees that will be adopted in 2018.

The panel debate will be opened by H. E. Dr. Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim, Chairman of the Geneva Centre’s Board of Management. Speakers participating in the panel will be Mr. Roberto Savio (Founder and President Emeritus of Inter Press Service (IPS) and Director for International Relations of the European Centre for Peace and Development), Monsignor Roberto J. Vitillo (the Secretary General of the International Catholic Migration Commission), Mr. Eduard Rodier (Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Europe Office). Ms. Dina Ionesco (Head of IOM’s Migration, Environment and Climate Change Division) and Ms. Christine Goyer(UNHCR Senior Protection Officer, Mixed Migration).

The debate will be moderated by the Executive Director of the Geneva Centre Ambassador Idriss Jazairy.

All attendees who do not hold a UN badge are kindly requested to register at UN's INDICO registration portal by 10 December (12:00) the latest.

About the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Social Dialogue:

The Geneva Centre, an organization with special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, is a think tank dedicated to the promotion of human rights through cross-cultural, religious and civilizational dialogue between the Global North and Global South, and through training of the upcoming generations of stakeholders in the Arab region. The Centre works towards a value-driven human rights system, steering clear of politicization and building bridges between different narratives thereon of the Global North and of the Global South. Its aim is to act as a platform for dialogue between a variety of stakeholders involved in the promotion and protection of human rights.