His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, participated in the opening session of the Second Regional Review Conference of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in the Arab Region, held on 3 July at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States. The conference also featured Mr. Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister-designate of Libya, and Ms. Amy Pope, Coordinator of the United Nations Migration Network and Director-General of the International Organization for Migration.
Gamal Roshdy, the spokesman for the Secretary-General, stated that Mr. Aboul Gheit delivered a speech stressing the importance of this conference, which is being held six years after the adoption of the Global Compact for Migration in Marrakesh in 2018, and for the first time with in-person attendance. Mr. Aboul Gheit noted that migration to and from the Arab region constitutes a significant part of global migration and plays a crucial role in shaping the social and economic landscape of the region. The Arab region hosts 41.4 million immigrants and refugees and is the origin of approximately 32.8 million immigrants and refugees.
The spokesman explained that the Secretary-General addressed the impact of climate change as a significant driver of human mobility, noting that the Arab region is one of the areas most directly affected by the major threats of climate change and natural disasters. This concern is reflected in the Global Compact on Migration, which calls for a deeper understanding of climate change as a critical driver of migration and emphasises the need to develop adaptation and resilience strategies, taking into account the potential impacts on migration and displacement.
Roshdy added that Mr. Aboul Gheit highlighted how the Arab region has been exposed to wars and conflicts, leading to a worrying increase in migration and displacement.
