In her address to the participants of the GFMD, AFFORD deputy director and GFMD civil society co-chair Stella Opoku-Owusu highlighted the role of civil society organisations in achieving the commitments of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) adopted by 152 States, and the need to act on those commitments.
For the 12th GFMD, she challenged participants to:
- Ensure it is the reality of migrants’ lives that informs the discussions – from the bottom up – and not the other way around;
- Be visionary leaders, and hold each other accountable;
- Put migrants at the heart of the discussions and bring our hearts to the discussions too.
‘We are all leaders in our own right. Each and every one of us has a vision – for ourselves and for those we serve. We all want better lives for ourselves, our children, our constituencies. Our search for a better life is not driven by national or international processes. It is driven, by an innate human need in the search for fulfilment,’ said Ms. Opoku-Owusu.
Read more on the GFMD website