On 31 May 2018, UNU hosted “Is a Win-win Solution Possible? Introducing a Model International Mobility Convention”, a conversation with Prof. Michael Doyle, Director of the Columbia Global Policy Initiative and Professor at Columbia University. This event started at 6:30 p.m. at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo.

While people are as mobile as they ever were in our globalised world, the movement of people across borders lacks global regulation. This leaves many refugees in protracted displacement, and many migrants unprotected in irregular and dire situations. Meanwhile, some states are concerned that their borders have become irrelevant. International mobility — the movement of individuals across borders for any length of time as visitors, labour migrants, refugees, and so on — has no common definition or legal framework. To address this gap in international law, the Model International Mobility Convention proposes a framework for mobility with the goals of reaffirming the existing rights afforded to mobile people, as well as expanding those basic rights where warranted. How would such a convention provide what its designers describe as a win-win outcome for states and migrants alike? And what would an international mobility convention mean for Japan — an island nation that values its national cohesion, values, and culture?

Prof. Doyle was joined Dr Rebecca Brubaker, Policy Adviser at the UNU Centre for Policy Research, for a conversation examining the need for a Model International Mobility Convention, and the extent to which such a convention is viable.

The UNU Conversation Series aims to foster audience participation: you are encouraged to engage with the speakers during the conversation and at the reception that will follow, where all audience members are invited to enjoy the food and drinks that will be served while exchanging ideas and making new contacts.