Regional and global consultative processes: Trends and developments

Abstract

There have been innumerable efforts by governments and intergovernmental organizations to create cooperative mechanisms for the more efficient management of common and shared migration concerns. Regional Consultative Processes (RCPs) have emerged since the 1990s primarily out of a need for coordinated action on urgent common issues, such as irregular migration and, in particular, smuggling and trafficking of persons. Global processes, such as the Global Commission on Migration, have appeared more recently in response to a growing perception that globalization calls for more multilateral approaches. Both phenomena reflect the growing recognition by governments that migration also affects other major public policy areas such as development, labour rights, public health and security.