The Arab Region: An Overview 

A total of 152 Member States voted in favor of endorsing the GCM, including 19 Arab counties, of which five voted against and 12 abstained from a vote.

The Arab region currently hosts around 40 million migrants. During the past year, major steps towards the advancement of good migration governance in the Arab region were witnessed; positive initiatives from member states included the development, adoption and implementation of national migration policies and action plans and the establishment of national coordination mechanisms and inter-agency working groups on migration; moreover, significant reforms to the “Kafala system” have been taking place in some of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries.

Furthermore, Good practices such as the inclusion of migrants in public health services and in ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaigns were recognized as countries are increasingly aware of the essential roles that migrants play in their development agendas. These roles have been further highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic as many migrants contribute to the continuity of essential services such as health care, food production and, despite lockdowns, provide societies and communities with their most basic needs.

IOM, as coordinator of the UN Network, ESCWA and the League of Arab States, in collaboration with the members of the Regional United Nations Network on Migration in the Arab region, and with the support of the Secretariat of the United Nations Network on Migration, are coordinating the GCM implementation process in the Arab region.

The organization of the first Regional Review of the Global Compact on Migration for the Arab States, took place from the 24th to the 25th of February and provided a common platform where over 80 officials from 18 Member States and a broad range of stakeholders joined to undertake a first assessment of progress made in implementing the GCM within the Arab region and highlight challenges and opportunities, identify gaps, discuss regional priorities, trends, approaches and identify the resources required in implementing the GCM. Overall, countries reported considerable progress in achieving the 23 GCM objectives, to varying degrees depending on relevance to country contexts and Objectives 1 (data collection), 2 (minimize factors that compel people to leave their country), 10 (combating human trafficking) and 23 (cooperation) received the most reporting.

To ensure a thorough and inclusive Regional Review, Member States were encouraged to prepare a voluntary stocktaking (Voluntary GCM Review Report) of the implementation of the GCM, to be presented during the Regional Review. So far, 12 reports have been received from the following countries: Comoros, Iraq, Mauritania, Morocco, Libya, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, Lebanon and Tunisia. All these reports are accessible through the UN Network on Migration website as well as other relevant preparatory and stakeholder documents. As of now, 14 Voluntary GCM Review Reports from Member States were received and 4 written inputs from stakeholders all available on the UN Network on Migration Website.

.