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First joint UN/EC Migration for Development Fair takes place

Brussels – The first Migration for Development Knowledge Fair has welcomed hundreds of members of diaspora groups as well as representatives of NGOs, local authorities from developing and European countries, EU institutions and UN agencies. The Fair is the first major event held under the European Commission-United Nations Joint Initiative on Migration and Development (JMDI), a new, €15 million three-year effort funded by the EC.

The JMDI will finance migration and development projects conceived and implemented by civil society groups and local authorities from EU Member States. These groups in turn will partner with counterparts in 16 non-EU countries – Algeria, Cape Verde, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Jamaica, Mali, Moldova, Morocco, Nigeria, the Philippines, Tunisia, Senegal and Sri Lanka. A Call for Proposals launched at the Knowledge Fair will identify the projects.

The JMDI also promotes exchanges between migration and development practitioners to identify what actually works at the local and international level. It encourages the building of networks between local authorities and civil society groups in Europe and in the developing world. Discussions and information-sharing started at the Fair will continue online through the new Migration and Development Knowledge Portal.

The fair took place from 1-4 December and, like the JMDI, involves the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).