Remarks by H.E. Annalena Baerbock
President of the 80th Session of the Â鶹APP General Assembly
at the opening of the Informal Interactive Multi-Stakeholder Hearing
preceding the 2nd International Migration Review Forum
4 May 2026
Conference Room 4, Â鶹APP
New York
[As Delivered]
Ms. Catalina Devandas Aguilar,
Dear colleagues at the Â鶹APP Network on Migration,
Dear stakeholders present,
Ladies and gentlemen,
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Let us begin with a simple truth: migration is part of the human story.
Long before it became the subject of policies, compacts, forums, and negotiated texts¡people moved all around the world.
They moved to survive, to find safety, and to build better futures for their children.
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They moved for work, some for love, for opportunity, for dignity, and for hope.
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To study, to earn a living, to start a business, to reunite with family, or simply to build a better life.
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And that movement continues today.
In 2024 alone, the Â鶹APP Department of Economic and Social Affairs recorded more than 304 million international migrants worldwide.
Many of us in this room have been migrants ourselves or are part of families and communities shaped by migration.
Migration governance cannot be discussed, therefore, only in technical terms.
It must remain grounded in people, and in the experience of those working closest to the realities migrants face every day in many UN settings, but also well beyond.
Across the world, frontline actors, like many of you here in the room, provide protection, support search and rescue operations, deliver humanitarian assistance, collect data, assess risks, and identify both what is working in practice and where serious gaps remain.
As policy is only as strong as its connection to this reality.
And the reality is clear: migration touches every State, whether as a country of origin, transit, destination, or increasingly, all three at once.
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No single State or institution can manage migration alone.
Because migration affects labour markets, education systems, social protection, public health, urban planning, climate resilience, and development itself.
It requires cooperation across borders, sectors, and communities¡ a whole-of-society approach.
It requires platforms like this Global Compact, which we are reviewing this week, to serve all Member States and all communities.
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If we treat it as a narrow issue, on the other hand, we will only produce narrow answers, and those answers will fail both people on the move and the communities that receive them.
This is also why stakeholders ¨C you ¨C have been central from the beginning.
Stakeholders like you helped shape the discussions that led to the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in 2018, and have supported its implementation ever since.
Stakeholders like you contributed to the first International Migration Review Forum in 2022 by helping assess progress, identify gaps, and highlight continuing challenges.
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Through the regional reviews held ahead of this Forum, you have built momentum, shared experience, and strengthened cooperation across regions.
Yet, four years after the first review cycle, the global context has become more difficult.
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Climate impacts are intensifying. Humanitarian needs are growing. Institutional capacity is under strain, even as migration continues to shape economies, societies, and communities in profound ways.
And we must be frank: migration is becoming increasingly politicized.
That makes today¡¯s discussion only more important, not only for this hearing, or for this week, but for the broader effort to ensure that migration governance remains effective, humane, and grounded in reality.
And the reality is, well-governed migration can support development, help address labour shortages, strengthen communities, and create opportunities for families to invest in education, health, and livelihoods.
If we are joining hands, this can be a win-win-win situation.
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In countries with ageing populations and declining birth rates, entire systems of health care, elderly care, and other essential services would simply not function without migrant workers.
Across many economies, migrants are central to construction, agriculture, transport, hospitality, care work, and other service sectors.
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They also contribute through high-skilled professions, entrepreneurship, research, technology, and innovation.
Yet, again, these benefits cannot be taken for granted.
When migration is poorly governed, when it¡¯s politicized with bad intent, people become more vulnerable to trafficking, exploitation, and abuse.
And the reality in too many parts of the world migrant workers are excluded from social protection systems and lack access to health care, legal protection, and decent working conditions.
In some cases, children of migrants are even still unable to attend school, deprived of stability and opportunity.
That is why this work, this global compact is so important, this is why your daily work as stakeholders is so important. And this is why also the work of the International Labour Organization and partners across the Â鶹APP system is so important.
Well-governed migration means decent work, fair recruitment, protection from exploitation, and access to basic services.
When these foundations are in place, migrants can contribute more fully to families, communities, and economies.
Additionally, with only four years remaining to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we cannot afford to overlook that potential.
But realizing it will require more than broad commitments.
It will require honest assessment, practical recommendations, and a willingness to listen carefully to migrant communities, local authorities, civil society, diaspora organizations, workers¡¯ organizations, the private sector, and all those whose experience can strengthen implementation.
I thank you, I thank the Special envoy, I thank the migrant voices speaker, therefore for the opportunity today, for the consultations in action, because a summary of this hearing will be presented at the opening of the plenary of the International Migration Review Forum. You¡¯re representing the lives of people on the ground, the true realities.
So let our work, let your work, be guided by a simple recognition: human mobility has shaped every era of our shared history, and it will continue to shape the future before us.
And it is in our hands if it will be a win-win-win for migrants, for receiving communities, and states of origin.
Thank you.
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