September 4, 2024 | 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. (ET)
Networking: 9:30 a.m.–10:00 a.m. (in-person only)
Hybrid | Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations
To RSVP for this event, please register here before Friday, August 30th.
Download the concept note here.
Download the agenda here.
Download the summary report here.
This event is co-convened by Pathfinders for Justice at the New York University Center on International Cooperation, and Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility at The New School as part of the Justice for Displaced Populations Initiative alongside Migration for Development and Equality (MIDEQ) Hub. The event is co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations, the Permanent Mission of Colombia to the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
The discussion will explore gaps and challenges in knowledge and practice on documentation as a pathway to justice for migrants, shed light on the importance of collecting data on the justice needs of migrant populations, and identify ways to translate evidence into action by discussing the role that national and international actors can take to ensure access to documentation as a pathway to justice for migrants– and more generally. The event will provide participants with an opportunity to learn about the challenges vulnerable migrants and displaced populations face to obtain documentation on the one hand, and the implications of living without it on the other. Building from an understanding of the challenge, the discussion will also be solutions-oriented and foster an exchange of promising practices on addressing the global legal identity gap.
Following an initial presentation that overviews the key challenges of the legal identity gap, a panel of experts representing government, non-government, and multilateral organizations will reflect on the implications of documentation for policy and practice – including delivery of the SDGs and the Global Compacts for Migration and Refugees – and on how the global community can work together to ensure that all migrants and their children have a legal identity and associated documentation.
An open audience discussion will follow, aimed at exploring existing efforts to reduce the injustices faced by migrants through the provision of documentation. Key topics will include the importance of data and evidence on access to justice in contexts of migration, unpacking the ways in which a lack of documentation acts as a barrier to justice, the promise of existing initiatives to increase the documentation of migrants and their families, and reflections on how to coordinate and maximize efforts between international and national actors when it comes to ensuring that people on the move are documented.
In particular, the discussion will consider the following questions:
Understanding the challenges
- In what ways does a lack of documentation contribute to the injustices experienced by migrants and displaced populations moving between the countries?
- What are the particular challenges facing children in migrant households who lack access to official documentation and associated rights?
Looking towards solutions
- How can countries develop civil registration systems that are inclusive of migrant populations, including children born to migrant parents?
- What is needed of the international community to support these efforts?
- What role can community-based justice actors and legal empowerment play in assisting and empowering individuals and communities suffering from a lack of documentation of citizenship or other forms of proof of legal identity?
- How can these efforts be taken to scale?
- What efforts have proven successful in addressing the legal identity gap? What set of contextual factors (political, economic, institutional) best explain these successes? What lessons can be taken from these examples and applied elsewhere?
Agenda
9:30–10:00: Coffee and Networking (in-person only)
10:00–10:07: Welcome Remarks
- Ambassador Michael Gort, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Canada to the UN
10:07–10:14:
- Ambassador Juan José Quintana,DeputyPermanent Representative of the Permanent
Mission of Colombia to the UN
10:14–10:19 Framing Remarks: Access to Documentation as a Pathway to Justice
- Leah Zamore, Senior Fellow, Zolberg Institute for Migration and Mobility
10:19–10:34: Understanding the Challenges: Documentation and A2J for Migrants in the Global South
- Presentation by Professor Heaven Crawley, Director, MIDEQ Hub on research in South Africa, Brazil, Kenya, and Nepal on injustices associated with a lack of documentation for migrants
10:34–11:34: Looking Towards Solutions: The Role of Local, National, and International Actors
- Fernando Marani, Program Director, Inequality and Exclusion, Pathfinders, NYU Center on International Cooperation (Moderator)
Panelists:
- Margaret Satterthwaite, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
- Jackie Keegan, Deputy Director, Division of International Protection – Resettlement and Complementary Pathways, UNHCR
- Paula Ximena Sanmiguel Patiño, First Secretary and Third Committee Expert, Permanent Mission of Colombia to the UN
- Erick Rozo, Founder, The CESI Foundation
- Aisha Khagai, Program Manager, Citizenship, Namati
11:34–11:55: Open discussion of participants and audience Q&A
11:55–12:00: Summary and Conclusion: Implications for Programming, Policy and Advocacy
- Fernando Marani, Program Director, Inequality and Exclusion, Pathfinders, NYU Center on International Cooperation
Please find information on accessibility & security at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the UN here.
Attendees are encouraged to email the Events team at CNGNY-PRMNY-Events@international.gc.ca should they need any further accommodations.
