IMRF 2026 concludes in New York with Renewed Global Commitment
IOM launches the world migration report 2026
Governments from around the world concluded the second International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York by adopting a new Progress Declaration aimed at strengthening global cooperation on migration challenges and opportunities through 2030. The forum, held from May 5 to 8, reviewed progress under the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), the voluntary international agreement adopted in 2018 to address migration issues within a framework grounded in international law.
The declaration reaffirmed the commitment of United Nations Member States to the goals of the Global Compact while outlining future priorities such as protecting labor rights, ensuring legal identity for migrants, expanding safe and regular migration pathways, saving lives along migration routes, and enhancing cooperation among governments and stakeholders.
President of the United Nations General Assembly Annalena Baerbock stressed that migration is an inevitable global reality and emphasized that the key challenge lies in managing migration effectively through international cooperation. She noted that almost every country today serves simultaneously as a country of origin, transit and destination for migrants.
Director General of the International Organization for Migration Amy Pope highlighted that sovereign states have the right to define their migration policies while migrants must also be treated with dignity and respect. She said the forum demonstrated that these two principles can coexist when countries work together constructively.
Before the official forum sessions began, an informal multi-stakeholder hearing was held on May 4, bringing together migrants, civil society organizations, diaspora groups, faith-based institutions, local authorities, trade unions, parliamentarians, academics, media representatives and humanitarian organizations. The consultations reflected the Global Compact’s “whole-of-society” approach to migration governance.
The IMRF then continued with four days of roundtable discussions, policy dialogues and debates focusing on major migration priorities. These discussions were informed by consultations conducted at local, national and regional levels. Ahead of the forum, 90 countries submitted voluntary national reviews on their progress in implementing the Global Compact, marking a 30 percent increase since 2022 and demonstrating growing international engagement.
Kuwait participated actively in the forum through its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York and submitted its Voluntary GCM Progress Report. Kuwait reaffirmed its commitment to multilateral cooperation and international dialogue on migration governance while highlighting efforts to protect migrant workers’ rights and dignity.
During the discussions, Kuwait outlined several measures aimed at improving protections for migrant workers, including banning forced labor, criminalizing the confiscation of workers’ passports and documents, strengthening complaint and grievance mechanisms, and enhancing anti-human trafficking measures. These efforts were presented as part of Kuwait’s broader commitment to labor reforms and migrant protection.
On the sidelines of the forum, the International Organization for Migration launched the World Migration Report 2026, which showed that global migration patterns continue to vary significantly across regions. The report noted that while international migration has increased over time, migration opportunities remain unevenly distributed, with people from wealthier countries enjoying greater mobility compared to those from lower-income nations.
The report also revealed that by the end of 2024, more than 120 million people worldwide had been displaced due to conflict, environmental pressures and structural vulnerabilities. Despite these record figures, most displacement continues to occur within national borders rather than across countries.
The report emphasized that migration can contribute positively to labor markets, economic growth and innovation through skills mobility, remittances and diaspora engagement. It recommended expanding safe migration pathways, lowering remittance costs, improving regional cooperation, strengthening data collection and adopting more inclusive and evidence-based migration policies to address rapidly evolving global challenges.
