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The Philippine Working Group on the Second Global
Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), a coalition of civil
society organizations (CSOs) in the Philippines launched the
Peoples’ Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights
and discussed plans for its implementation in a meeting held July 11
to 12 at the Manila office of the International Labor Organization.
The civil society groups want to
coordinate and jointly plan collective efforts centering on the
Peoples’ Global Action and ongoing regional processes to prepare
for a parallel civil society event that will be held on October 22
to 30, parallel to the 2008 GFMD.
Regional and international
migrants’ organizations, trade unions and human rights defenders
from Asia, Europe, Africa, America and Latin America planned to hold
workshops, panel discussions, mobilizations, organizational
meetings, cultural performances and exhibits during the GFMD.
Issues and problems of the CSOs
in engaging in the official CSO forum were also discussed and how
the parallel event could address these issues, including the lack of
disinterest of CSOs in the application process and the language
barrier which put the non-English speaking nationals at a
disadvantage position.
Currently, there is no assurance
of translation facilities available during the official forum.
Reports from Asia, Europe,
America and Africa revealed that civil society groups are more
inclined to joining the parallel event instead of the official
forum.
“There are some incremental
changes and the fact that human rights is on the agenda was in part
because of civil society participation, and although [we] have [a]
long way to go, this is something to keep in mind,” Nisha Varia,
senior researcher of international NGO Human Rrights Watch, said.
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