The National Assembly House Chairperson for International Relations, Madala Ntombela, is leading a South African parliamentary delegation to a conference that will review progress made in implementing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

The global compact is the first intergovernmental agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations to cover all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner.

It was adopted at an intergovernmental conference on migration held in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 10 December 2018.

During the conference, Member States agreed to review the progress made at the local, national, regional and global levels in implementing the global compact at an International Migration Review Forum (IMRF), through a State-led approach and with the participation of all relevant stakeholders at the UN General Assembly.

The IMRF, which takes place at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York from 17 – 20 May 2022, is the first-ever gathering held to review progress made since the adoption of the compact.

Parliamentary spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, said the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) supports the programme as part of building sustainable global partnerships to address the growing challenge of migration across the world.

“Over a quarter of a billion people (282 million) in the world are migrants, pushed from their countries of origin by numerous factors such as wars, conflict, economic hardships, and threats to their lives and livelihoods.

“It is reported that thousands of migrants’ lives and livelihoods are lost while trying to get to a better a quality of life each year. Member States are expected to account for all work done to address the causal factors and triggers of migration, align legislation and strategies, building capacity for better management of migration,” Mothapo said.

Source: South African Government News Agency