The Negros Chronicle -

CFO Conducts Manila Consultative Meeting for December Confab on Migration Trends and Key Issues in SEA Countries and the EU

The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), in cooperation with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and with the support from the European Union’s (EU) Initiative “Migration European Union Expertise” (MIEUX), conducted the Manila Consultative Meeting last October 11, at the Century Park Hotel, Manila. This is in line with the project “Advancing Regional Cooperation on International Migration among Southeast Asian (SEA) countries.”

The consultative meeting, attended by representatives from the Philippine government, embassies from Southeast Asian countries, academia, civil society organizations and multilateral organizations, was set to agree on the parameters for the themes, topics, participants and resource persons for the upcoming three conferences on migration and development, the first to be held in Manila in December, the second tentatively scheduled in Jakarta on May 2013 and the third to be held in Hanoi on October 2013. The Manila Conference will dwell on: Situationers on Migration and Development in the respective SEA countries, migration trends and regional processes, both in Southeast Asia and EU.

The meeting was facilitated by Secretary Imelda Nicolas of the CFO and was jumpstarted by a backgrounder on the EU-ICMPD Initiative - MIUEX by ICMPD Project Officer Oleg Chirita. An overview of the project, its general and specific objectives were presented by Ms. Cherry Joy Veniles, Officer-In-Charge of the Policy, Plans and Research Division (PPRD) of the CFO.

The Project aims to examine varying degrees and modalities of regional cooperation on migration by various stakeholders, but with special emphasis on governments, propose key steps on how international migration can be mainstreamed in regional discussions, particularly among Southeast Asian countries.

Specific objectives of the Project are: get a situationer on migration and development from the 10 Southeast Asian countries; serve as a forum to develop a migration and development perspective for Southeast Asian countries on key issues e.g. addressing nationals in distress, managing return of migrants, inter marriages and cross-cultural children; provide a forum to advance a regional multi-stakeholder approach to migration; get an overview of different and separate regional processes involving Southeast Asian countries and EU countries; generate lessons learned from EU and Southeast Asian countries’ experience in intergovernmental, interregional and bilateral cooperation on migration-related concerns; and establish a network of policy advocates in Southeast Asian countries in relation to migration and development.

For further information about the project, please contact:

Ms. Jo Rodriguez, Commission on Filipinos Overseas, Manila, Philippines, Tel: +632-552-4704, e-mail: jorodriguez.cfo@gmail.com

Mr. Oleg Chirita, International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), Brussels, Belgium, Tel: +43-72-05-236-7650, e-mail: oleg.chirita@icmpd.org