The UN Country Network on Migration has started its work in Belarus this week. Chaired and led by United Nations Resident Coordinator jointly with the IOM Chief of Mission in Belarus, the meeting featured participation of representatives of UN agencies and partners to discuss the role of the UN Country Network on Migration in supporting Belarus in the implementation, follow-up and review of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM). The Network will also serve as a platform for coordination and discussion of migration related issues in Belarus.

Migrants represent approximately 3 per cent of the world’s population, yet they produce more than 9 per cent of global GDP.  It is some USD 3 trillion more than if they had stayed at home. Migration has always been a source of prosperity, innovation, and sustainable development, especially now in the globalized world.  What has to be adjusted and optimized is how migration is governed.  This is why the UN globally has initiated creation of UN country migration networks as a cross-sectoral platform for collaboration, in which all sectors of the Government, but also private sector and NGOs can work together to shape the modern, development oriented migration policy of the country,

said Joanna Kazana-Wisniowiecki, UN Resident Coordinator in Belarus.

We are happy to establish and launch the UN Migration Country Network in Belarus, with participation of all UN agencies and stakeholders in Belarus. It is perfect timing for Belarus as the Government is at the final stage of the Concept of National Migration Policy development. This will allow us to come up with a holistic action plan and focus on the support of the National Migration Policy implementation, which also means the implementation of GCM,

says Mahym Orazmuhammedova, Chief of IOM Mission in Belarus.

The UN County Network on Migration in Belarus will work closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Interior of Belarus to further discussions and prioritization of GCM objectives in Belarus.