Geneva – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), who have worked together for more than seven decades, have signed an agreement to cooperate on issues related to migration and development. 

“I am delighted to formalize our long and fruitful partnership on data and policy with this cooperation agreement,” said IOM Director General António Vitorino. 

“Through IOM’s global footprint and OECD’s strong advisory role with its Member States, we can work towards stronger policies and standards responding to the migration, development, social, economic and environmental challenges facing the world today.” 

This agreement foresees cooperation across a wide spectrum of migration governance issues, including migration policy, migration and sustainable development, labour, and the humanitarian, development and peace nexus (HDPN). In addition to cooperation in the context of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, areas of mutual interest range from data to health and climate change.  

The new agreement formalizes a partnership that began in the 1950s. OECD is an IOM observer organization and IOM is an observer to OECD’s Working Party on Migration. IOM, OECD and the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs jointly host the biennial International Forum on Migration Statistics (IFMS), which promotes improved collection and analysis of migration data worldwide. The most recent, third IFMS was held in Chile in January. 

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For more information, please contact Kristina Galstyan at IOM Geneva, Email: kgalstyan@iom.int