29 May 2018, Rome. A “better understanding of the drivers and impacts of migrations for forward-looking policies and programmes” was the main objective of the Forum on Agriculture, Rural Development and Migrations in the Mediterranean, jointly organised by the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the European University Institute- Global Governance Programme (EUI), under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI).

This first expert-level meeting took place at the FAO Headquarters and brought together experts from international institutions, development cooperation agencies, research centres, policy practitioners and civil society organisations.The Forum provided a first overview of the challenges and opportunities associated to rural migratory dynamics in the Mediterranean as well as main policies and strategies designed to harness the potential of agriculture and rural mobility, collecting different perspectives from experts from the region.The participants of the Forum proposed concrete recommendations for moving forward regional cooperation in this respect, which could serve as a basis for future research activities and joint initiatives.

As part of its work on Migration, FAO is co-chairing, together with the International Organization for Migration, the Global Migration Group, a consortium of UN agencies advising member states on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration due to be adopted in December 2018. In this context, the recommendations stem from the Forum will be channeled into the Global Compact negotiation process, if and as required by Member States.

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Press release

Speech by Saïd BHIRA, Special Advisor to the Secretary General for Higher Education and Research, UfM: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mfa0ms9eie00r8h/Said_Speech.mp4?dl=0