The primary aim of this event is to inform about the Global Migration Group (GMG), an inter-agency group bringing together heads of 16 international organizations to develop and elaborate upon a common approach to a wide range of international migration issues.

As Chair of the GMG in the second half of 2011, UNESCO is leading the Group’s work with a thematic focus on the links between migration and climate change. The event will also be an occasion to learn more about the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), with which the GMG is collaborating on a number of major upcoming events. The second aim of the Side Event is to inform about prominent ongoing activities on migration and global environmental change, both here at UNESCO – including the recent publication of the first UN-wide study of its kind, "Migration and Climate Change", published by UNESCO and Cambridge University Press – and with UNESCO partners.