A conference aide's account of “Global Forum on Migration and Development 2016”

The member states of the United Nations made an initiative to address the migration and development interconnections in practical and action-oriented ways, namely Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), in 2006 with its headquarters situated in Geneva. It is an informal, non-binding, and government-led process that marks the culmination of more than a decade of international dialogue on the growing importance of the link between migration and development. 

This year, the 9th summit of GFMD was held in Dhaka on December, 2016 chaired by the Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shahidul Haque. About 800 delegates came from around 130 countries, representing 40 international agencies, including the UN, to participate in this summit.

This was one of the biggest international events held in Bangladesh. I first got to know about this summit when I was browsing through social media and saw a post on International Organization for Migration (IOM)'s page where they were looking for Delegation Liaison Officers (DLOs) for the summit with a set of criteria. I followed the mentioned steps and applied. I didn't know if I would be selected or not and, to be honest, I thought it might not be as exciting as it sounded. 

After a few days I got an email from a senior Assistant Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying that I was primarily selected for an interview. The interview date finally came and I went to the ministry. Despite being a little nervous, I was mentally ready to face my interviewers, the high ranking officials of the ministry. The interview didn't take much time and I was relieved. Seeing so many eligible candidates, I thought that I might not be selected. Then one day, a police officer from the Special Branch contacted me and met me at the provided permanent address. When I finally received the mail confirming that I had been selected as a DLO, I was ecstatic. The briefings took place followed by venue visits (Bangabandhu International Conference Centre) and finally we reported to our duty. I was in the delegation pool and was assigned to look after the delegates from Austria, Armenia, Cyprus, Canada, Georgia, Greece, Hungary and Luxembourg. All of these delegates stayed at the Westin so we were told to report there. 

The first day mainly involved greeting the delegates who arrived early, and getting to know them. The next day was the busiest. All my delegates were coming on that day and so were for the other DLOs. We had a notice board next to the reception which said that the conference materials will be provided by 8:30 pm. Everyone came down, accordingly, but they were sent back as the materials came a bit later than the mentioned time which was after almost 10 pm. Most of the delegates were crowding in front of the help desk as they were very serious about collecting their ID cards more than anything. By night we could not provide everyone with their IDs. We told all our delegates that by 7:15 am next morning, everyone should be at the lobby. 

That night some of us stayed back as our homes were far and it would be difficult to come at the hotel so early. By 6:45 am, everyone started to gather at the lobby while others went to our help desk to know about their IDs. Later they were provided at BICC. We, the delegation pool along with our delegates, left for BICC by 7:40 am and had police escorting us. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the summit. The day's theme was: "Time to Act – Compact for Governance of Migration". The Foreign Secretary made the opening remarks. After lunch there were three side events followed by an official dinner hosted by Foreign Minister. The next day, different roundtables took place. After the meeting between business, civil society, and governments took place, a dinner hosted by Md. Shahriar Alam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs took place. Special sessions followed the closing session.

At BICC there were photo exhibitions, crafts shops, and photo booths. We, the Delegate Pool team roamed around the venue, had food, and helped other DLOs if needed. Most of the time we used to be so tired that we would find places to take a nap and the best place was the gallery of the Hall of Fame. After taking naps there for two consecutive days, they had shut it down on the third day. Also we were always ready and tried to stay as close as possible to our delegates if they needed us any time.

The best part of this duty was: after we returned to the hotel and had lunch/dinner, we played different games till late at night at either the lobby or the room.  

It took us all a while to finally say goodbye to the summit and the last day was very emotional for all of us including the delegates and we were busy making plans when to meet again. The summit taught us a lot of things including friendship, responsibility, caring for others, and to live life to the fullest. We were part of history and all credit goes to the Foreign Secretary and the ministry, along with IOM who worked hard to make this a successful event. 

The writer is a volunteer, Change Makers, VBD.