On 30 June 2020 the United Nations Network on Migration was launched in Georgia by the UN Country Team in order to provide coordinated and coherent United Nations system-wide support to the Government of Georgia for strengthening migration policies and enhancing migration management efforts, in line with the Migration Strategy of Georgia 2016-2020 and 2021-2030, which is in the finalization stage.

“I wish to thank the Government for the traditionally excellent cooperation on migration,” said Dr. Sabine Machl, UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia.” We are committed to work alongside the Government of Georgia to promote migration policies that are beneficial to all and in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

Ms. Nino Tsatsiashvili, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia and Ms. Khatuna Totladze, Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia welcomed the establishment of the Network and thanked the UN agencies, especially IOM, for their support in  helping to strengthen the benefits of migration and to address its many challenges.

It was also noted that this Network will become a platform for cooperation on migration and will leverage the impact of the United Nations’ considerable expertise and capacity.

“We establish this Network in order to strengthen the coordination among the UN agencies and enhance the coherence of our common work and our impact on migration management in order to provide to the Government of Georgia the support in more effective way in the future,” said Sanja Celebic Lukovac, IOM Chief of Mission.

Ms. Dyane Epstein, Regional Director a.i. of the  IOM Regional Office for South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia (SEEECA) Region and Mr. Jonathan Prentice, Head of the UN Network on Migration Secretariat in Geneva congratulated Georgia for the establishment of the Network and highlighted its importance for advancing the guiding principles and objectives spelled out in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). With the UN Network on Migration launch today, Georgia joins over 50 national and regional networks which have already been established globally to advance implementation on the ground and ensure that GCM is a living document, Prentice noted.

Coordinated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) – the UN Migration Agency - the Network will work closely with the governmental institutions and agencies, international, non-governmental organizations, private sector and other stakeholders to foster a better understanding of migration dynamics and enhance information exchanges and coordination within the UN system and with the Government of Georgia entities and other stakeholder at the national level.

The Network will be open for membership to those UN entities in Georgia who express readiness to join and for whom migration is of relevance to their mandates.