Time
9:00am
Location
IOM Sri Lanka
The Sustainable Development Council (SDC) and the IOM Sri Lanka and Maldives are working towards developing a sustainable mechanism to track the progress on Sri Lanka’s migration- related targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and assessing the contribution of migration towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in close coordination and collaboration with other relevant agencies.
The inter-agency committee established to provide strategic advice and guidance to this process met today to discuss the analysis done on how specific SDG targets relate to the objectives of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) which is the first ever inter-governmentally negotiated UN agreement that addresses a common approach to international migration.
The mapping showed that the GCM objectives and SDG targets and indicators are closely linked and share common priorities. Sri Lanka's efforts to align its migration policies with the SDGs and GCM objectives, shows a commitment to responsible and ethical migration management. Although there are still challenges, especially in collecting data and ensuring legal protections, the country’s proactive efforts and international cooperation provide a strong foundation for continued progress.
A key challenge for Sri Lanka in meeting its migration related SDG targets would be to maintain appropriate data records. This would require more coordination amongst various departments and institutions within Sri Lanka, whilst help and resources can be obtained from global partnerships where necessary, such as when gathering certain migration related information.