JAMAICA’S signing of the United Nations (UN) Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, represents a culmination of the Government’s effort in ensuring migration’s indispensable role in the country’s social and economic development.

This was noted by Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade State Minister Senator Pearnel Charles Jr at the local launch of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) publication, ‘Migration and the 2030 Agenda’, and film festival, at the Courtleigh Auditorium in New Kingston, on Tuesday.

The Compact, which was signed by just over 160 UN member countries in Marrakesh, Morocco, on December 10, is a voluntary framework reinforcing nation state sovereignty on migration matters, while underscoring the human rights of migrants, as well as the importance of stakeholder cooperation.

The signing was symbolic, as it coincided with the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

Senator Charles Jr said Jamaica’s signing of the Compact, coupled with the Government’s development of a Migration Profile, National Policy on International Migration, and complementary five-year implementation plan, indicates that the Government is collectively “trying to have a strategic approach to utilising aspects of our Diaspora and Migration Profile”.

“Also, in recognition of the role played by migrants, there has been a sustained effort to ensure that human mobility is reflected in our National Development Strategy, as we approach what we have defined as Vision 2030 [Jamaica – National Development Plan],” the state minister added.

Senator Charles noted that several of Vision 2030 Jamaica’s core goals are aligned with the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s draft Diaspora Policy, which forms the framework for the partnership between Jamaica and the diaspora.

Additionally, he said the expertise, knowledge and impact of Jamaica’s Diaspora, which has a membership that doubles the approximately 2.7 million people residing locally, “is one that is felt and well-known across the world”.

“It is within the context of being a country of origin, transit and destination that Jamaica treats the phenomenon of migration as indispensable to our economic growth trajectory and a dynamic tool for the development of our own human capital,” the state minister said.

He emphasised that the partnerships forged by people from various geographical and social backgrounds have provided “fertile soil for the germination of ideas and iconic concepts that continue to enrich our senses”.

Meanwhile, Senator Charles Jr said the partnership forged between Jamaica and the IOM will form the foundation for “robust initiatives” aimed at increasing the engagement and participation of Jamaicans overseas in the country’s international development planning process.

The launch of the IOM publication; the film festival, which featured the screening of a documentary, titled ‘Bushfallers: A Journey of Chasing Dreams’, that chronicles African nationals’ pursuit of a better life in Europe; and a panel discussion formed activities for Jamaica’s commemoration of International Migrants Day on December 18, under the theme ‘Migration with Dignity’.

The event was hosted by the local Chapter of the IOM in collaboration with the Planning Institute of Jamaica.