Presentation of the IPMWC

The International Platform on the Migrant Workers Convention (IPMWC) was launched in Geneva on 19th April 2005. It is a coalition of non-governmental organisations that have activities in relation with the UN Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW). The Platform was created to facilitate and strengthen the participation of these NGO members in the sessions of the Committee, and especially to facilitate the participation of local and national NGOs that would normally have difficulties to take part in the activities of UN human rights mechanisms. The Platform is serviced by a Secretariat. As an extension to its main purpose, the IPMWC is also mandated to monitor the activities of and to engage with the six other treaty bodies of the UN and the relevant extra-conventional mechanisms created by the UN Commission on Human Rights, i.e. the special procedures and the working groups.

The aim of the IPMWC is to facilitate the promotion, implementation and monitoring of the UN Migrant Workers' Convention. This is achieved through:

• Following up the work of the UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (the Committee) by maintaining a close contact with the Committee Secretariat and the Committee members, without prejudice to their independence.
• Following, from a migrants' rights perspective, the work of the six other UN human rights treaty bodies, primarily in close cooperation with other NGO groupings monitoring these treaty bodies.
• Contributing to raising awareness about the existence, activities and recommendations of the Committee, including with UN-accredited media representatives in Geneva.
• Facilitating the flow of information on migrants' rights between the treaty bodies and relevant NGOs, migrants rights groups and other interested organisations.
• Facilitating the flow of information on migrants' rights within the NGO community.
• Encouraging existing national migrants' rights coalitions to work on the preparation of NGO submissions.
• Supporting national coalitions with the preparation of their submissions and increasing their capacity to do so.
• Promoting the benefits of national coalitions where such a coalition does not yet exist and encouraging NGOs to form a coalition.