- Sinclair, G.F., To Reform the World: International Organizations and the Making of Modern States, 2019.
The members of Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) are sovereign States. IGOs are usually established on the basis of a treaty or charter that sets out the scope and parameters of their functions. For the purpose of clarity, the term “intergovernmental organization” is distinguished from the term “international organization”, because the latter may also include non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as members.
Several IGOs exist within the United Nations system and are usually referred to as United Nations agencies. Several United Nations agencies engage in migration-related activities even though migration is not a core focus of their work. This is because migration impacts directly or indirectly on their core mandate. For instance, United Nations Women has various projects targeting or impacting migrants and migrant communities. There are also IGOs that exist outside of the United Nations system. Again, many of these IGOs may not have migration as part of their core mandate, but they do engage in migration-related activities.
To Go Further
United Nations
The set of international principles and laws that together specify States’ obligations and rights in the field of migration, including with regard to migrants’ rights, have been established in international treaties and other instruments that States have adopted at United Nations’ General Assemblies. United Nations bodies, such as the treaty bodies, support the implementation of these conventions (further details in Compliance mechanisms in International migration law).
Within the broader context of the United Nations General Assembly, there have also been initiatives and resolutions that are directly or indirectly related to migration. These initiatives and resolutions address issues such as the protection of migrants, migration and development, and the facilitation and reduction of the cost of transfer of migrant remittances.
IOM as the United Nations migration agency
The main organization dealing with migration in the United Nations is the International Organization for Migration (IOM). IOM was established in 1951 and has become the leading intergovernmental organization (IGO) in the field of migration, working closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners, including migrants themselves. In 2020 it included 173 member States, 9 observer States, 155 IGOs and NGOs with observer status, and over 430 offices in over 100 countries. Until 2016, IOM was an independent IGO. In September 2016, IOM became part of the United Nations system as a “related organization”, known as the United Nations Migration Agency. From its roots as an operational logistics agency, IOM has broadened its scope but remains committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society.
The work of IOM is guided by the Migration Governance Framework (MIGOF) and the Strategic Vision 2019–2023 (IOM, 2019). Adopted by the IOM Council in 2015, MIGOF sets out the essential elements to support planned and well-managed migration. Following and promoting MIGOFs Principles, IOM assists governments in adhering to international standards, developing and implementing evidence-based policies that effectively inter-relate different policy sectors, and in promoting partnerships at the global, regional and national levels. Its work on migration management covers a range of thematic areas to promote the socioeconomic well-being of migrants and society; safe orderly and dignified migration and, when the need arises, address the mobility dimensions of crises.
Image / Video
Figure 1. MIGOF Principles and Objectives
Table
Table 1. IOM thematic areas clustered around MIGOF Objectives
| OBJECTIVE 1: SOCIOECONOMIC WELL-BEING OF MIGRANTS AND SOCIETY | OBJECTIVE 2: MOBILITY DIMENSION OF CRISES | OBJECTIVE 3: SAFE, ORDERLY AND DIGNIFIED MIGRATION |
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Example
IOM migration health assessment programmes
Migration health assessments (MHAs) are one of the most well-established IOM migration management services. At the request of receiving country governments, IOM provides migrants with physical and mental health evaluations for the purpose of assisting in the process of resettlement, international employment, obtaining temporary or permanent visas, or enrolling in specific migrant assistance programmes (see, for instance, IOM, 2020). IOM delivers health assessments that are technically sound, uphold national and international health legislation, are delivered in a timely and efficient manner, and are beneficial, equitable, and accessible for migrants. Reflecting national differences in immigration policies and practices, health assessment requirements and protocols vary among receiving countries. These requirements may be specific to certain diseases of public health concern, such as tuberculosis or they may be much broader. At the same time, the migrant is at the centre of the health assessment process, which is adapted to specific migrant profiles and individual risk exposures. IOM aims to integrate its health assessment services with existing national disease control and prevention programmes by collaborating with national partners, training local providers and employing local personnel. This is related to IOM policy advocacy work, which can assist governments in aligning with regional and international standards.
Source
IOM, n.d.
To Go Further
- IOM, Constitution and Basic Texts (second edition), 2017.
- United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Agreement Concerning the Relationship Between the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration (A/70/976), 2016b.
- IOM, MiGoF: The Migration Governance Framework (video), 2016b.
- IOM, Strategic Vision 2019-2023: Setting a Course for IOM. 110th Council Session (C/110/INF/1), 2019.
Under the Global Compact for Migration, IOM has taken on new responsibilities as the Coordinator and Secretariat for the United Nations Network on Migration.
United Nation Network on Migration
Established by the Secretary-General in 2018, the United Nations Network on Migration aims to ensure effective and coherent system-wide support for the implementation, follow-up and review of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), with IOM as the Network’s Coordinator and Secretariat (Global Compact for Migration, paragraph 45).
The United Nations Network on Migration brings together 39 United Nations entities, including nine entities as its executive committee (Annex I). The Network engages with a range of stakeholders, as per the Compact’s guiding principle on the whole-of-society approach (Global Compact for Migration, paragraph 15, j). To deliver on its mandate, it works with Country and Regional Networks or similar migration coordination mechanisms, as well as United Nations Country Teams.
Table
Table 2. United Nations Network on Migration Membership
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UNITED NATIONS AGENCIES |
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Note: Organizations in bold are part of the Executive Committee
The Network provides leadership to mobilize coordinated and collaborative action on migration including by speaking with one voice. It acts as a source of ideas, tools, reliable data and information, analysis, and policy guidance on migration issues, considering States' concerns and highlighting positive practices. As called for in the Global Compact for Migration, to increase the capacity of States to implement the Compact, the Network established the Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund (M-MPTF) as well as the Migration Network Hub (combining the Connection Hub and a Global Knowledge Platform). The latter includes features such as a community of practice consisting of a database of experts per theme and an online discussion space, and a large repository of peer-reviewed resources
Furthermore, the Network supports the preparations of the biennial report by the United Nations Secretary-General to the General Assembly on the implementation of the Compact. It provides support for the follow-up and review processes, through the regional and global reviews that take place alternately every four years (as per Paragraphs 48-54 of the Global Compact for Migration). This involves the preparations for and organization of the International Migration Review Forum, including through gathering voluntary local, national, regional and global level reporting of efforts to implement the Compact. These will be made available at the Migration Network website (read more on the forum in Comprehensive initiatives and commitments addressing migrants and refugees).
To Go Further
- United Nations Network on Migration, Terms of Reference of the UN Network on Migration, 2018.
- United Nations Network on Migration (website), n.d.
Intergovernmental organizations operating outside the United Nations system
Intergovernmental organizations outside the United Nations system are important actors that provide valuable forums for shaping migration policies and programmes within particular regions and subregions. These include:
- Specialized or theme-focused IGOs, for example, humanitarian; social; educational; environmental; developmental; or economic/financial. IGOs like the World Customs Organization, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) or the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) may address various aspects of migration among their Member States. This category also includes the multilateral development banks, like the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Inter-American Development Bank, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, or the Asian Development Bank.
- Political and economic unions (such as supranational unions, trade blocks, common markets, customs unions and regional economic communities) in which migration has been a key feature within and between the Member States. These unions are helpful in devising model laws and policies to guide national policy development, formulating regional migration policies and legislation, and implementing and monitoring at a regional level the global initiatives addressing migration. Most of these initiatives are more broadly related to free trade and regional integration processes, but almost all of them include the free movement of persons (migration) as an important element. Such unions include:
- African Union
- Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community
- Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM)
- Central American Integration System (SICA)
- Eurasian Economic Union
- European Union
- Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR)
As well, other organizations provide important forums for shaping migration policies and programmes within particular regions and subregions. Two examples are the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Organization of American States (OAS).
As the migration landscape evolves, more and more actors focus on migration. Innovative partnerships with IGOs include those with parliamentary unions and multilateral development banks.
Example
Cooperation between States and intergovernmental organizations
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) cooperated with the Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco to co-organize in December 2018 a parliamentary conference on migration in the lead-up to the adoption of the Global Compact for Migration. As a result of this conference, parliamentarians from around the world committed to the Global Compact for Migration and to working within their parliaments to not only design and implement a “parliamentary plan of action on migration” but also to report to the IPU on progress in 2021.
Similarly, the Government of France (Immigration, Integration and Cooperative Development Ministry) partnered in 2009 with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to establish a multilateral Migration and Development Trust Fund. The fund’s goal was to reduce the costs involved in sending and receiving remittances. As well, it explored ways that those costs could best benefit migrants and their beneficiaries as well as communities in the receiving countries. For instance, the fund promoted and assisted local initiatives and migrant-run initiatives that aimed to reduce transfer costs and better use transferred funds.
Source
IPU, 2018; AfDB, n.d.
Most IGOs outside the United Nations system have a broad mandate: to work towards achieving economic and political cooperation and integration within a specific geographic territory. In pursuing this mandate, the movement of persons will always be a relevant feature. For many IGOs, migration is not a specific and ongoing priority and is usually addressed in the context of broader discussions such as facilitating trade. However, the work of IGOs that is relevant to migration often produces policy principles and guidelines. These can provide a useful basis on which individual States can model their national migration policies and legislation.
IGOs outside the United Nations system can be indispensable partners for migration agencies that are:
- Looking for specialized advice on specific policy aspects that intersect with migration;
- Involving their respective constituencies in policy dialogue on migration;
- Achieving concerted approaches to migration issues at the regional and global levels;
- Accessing funding to address emerging migration issues at the regional, interregional or global levels.
Policy Approaches
Working with non-United Nations intergovernmental organizations and political and economic unions
- Draw on research and data available from political and economic unions and specialized intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) to shape national and regional guidelines, policies and frameworks.
- Contribute to enhancing the understanding of broader regional dynamics for the sake of fostering partnerships and cooperation by providing country-specific data to regional data sets.
- Foster regional harmonization by incorporating policy principles and guidelines developed by political and economic unions and other IGOs outside the United Nations system into national policies and legislation.
- As appropriate, invite migration experts and advisers from IGOs outside the United Nations system to participate in national policy development processes.
To Go Further
- IOM, Intergovernmental Organizations (webpage), n.d.
- Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), International Labour Organization (ILO) and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Migration, Human Rights and Governance: Handbook for Parliamentarians No. 24, 2015.
- Biermann, R., and J. A. Koops (eds.), Palgrave Handbook of Inter-Organizational Relations in World Politics, 2017.
- Börzel, T. A., and T. Risse (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism, 2016.
Key messages
- While States are the primary actors in migration governance and management, numerous intergovernmental actors working on migration issues support and add value to these processes.