Effective implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration requires the development of robust research, analysis and data-collection capacities, to ensure coherent and evidence-based policymaking and well-informed public discourse. IOM’s Strategic Vision for 2019–2023 reaffirms the importance of evidence-based policymaking, further echoed in its Migration Data Strategy for 2020–2025, where the Organization committed to support global efforts for the follow-up and review of the implementation of relevant international frameworks – and to offer Member States tools in this endeavour.
Three years after the publication of our Strategic Vision, I am pleased to introduce this global and regional overview of migration governance trends based on Migration Governance Indicators (MGI) data relevant to each of the 23 Global Compact for Migration objectives from 84 countries. While MGI data do not inform every single aspect of Global Compact commitments and associated actions, I believe that the insights they offer are valuable for the upcoming discussions at the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF).
While the data are presented objective by objective for simplicity and conciseness, this report also reveals interesting relationships between different aspects of migration governance, reinforcing the 360-degree vision for international migration of the Global Compact. For example, countries that have different visas to attract different labour skills (Objective 5 on regular pathways) are more likely to have provisions for allowing international students to work during their studies (Objective 16 on inclusion and social cohesion). In addition, countries that have a policy against migrant discrimination (Objective 17 on eliminating discrimination) are more likely to grant all migrants equal access as nationals to health and education services (Objective 15 on access to basic services).
This report presents MGI data as a contribution to global and regional discussions on the Global Compact for Migration, yet MGI data and the process through which they are collected also have an important value at the national and local levels. Thanks to the voluntary participation and continued engagement of governments, IOM has been able to help interested Member States address some of the gaps identified through MGI assessments – some examples of this support are presented in the recent Migration Governance Indicators Success Stories publication (2021). In other words, MGI reports do not remain on paper: in combination with other tools developed by IOM and with our partners in the United Nations Network on Migration, they inform policy development and policy change. In Cambodia for instance, the MGI process influenced the development of a new national policy on migrant health by underscoring the importance of migrants’ access to essential health care. In Albania, the MGI contributed to the development of a new migration policy. In Ireland and Uruguay, the MGI contributed to the inclusion of migrants in their respective COVID-19 response plans.