The People’s Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights (PGA) is a powerful, transnational platform led by migrant communities, civil society organizations, and grassroots movements that champions the rights and dignity of migrants worldwide.
Launched in 2006 to coincide with the first UN High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development (UNHLD) in New York, PGA was created as a space to mobilize collective action, challenge state-centric narratives, and amplify migrant voices in global migration governance processes.
A Civil Society Counter-Space for Advocacy and Mobilization
While governments gathered at the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) and UNHLDs to shape migration policy, civil society—often operating in limited formal spaces—established PGA as a bold, autonomous forum. PGA has served as a counter-space for organizing parallel events, people’s assemblies, street actions, and thematic dialogues grounded in human rights, justice, and solidarity.
From 2006 to 2015, PGA was held in the margins of major global migration summits in the following cities:
- 2006 – New York City, USA
- 2007 – Brussels, Belgium
- 2008 – Manila, Philippines
- 2009 – Athens, Greece
- 2010 – Mexico City, Mexico
- 2011 – Geneva, Switzerland
- 2012 – Port Louis, Mauritius
- 2013 – New York City, USA (during the second UNHLD)
- 2014 – Stockholm, Sweden
- 2015 – Istanbul, Turkey
Each edition of PGA reaffirmed the call for safe, regular, and rights-based migration, demanded accountability from states, and called attention to the structural injustices that force people to migrate under precarious conditions.
WARBE DF's Engagement with the PGA
WARBE Development Foundation (WARBE DF) has been deeply engaged with the People’s Global Action since its early years, contributing to the mobilization of South Asian migrant voices in global spaces.
Our participation in PGA reflects our strong commitment to:
- Advocating for the rights of Bangladeshi migrant workers, both documented and undocumented.
- Promoting feminist and gender-sensitive migration policies.
- Demanding accountability from states for violations of migrant workers’ rights.
- Building solidarity with transnational migrant networks and grassroots organizers.
WARBE DF delegates have participated in PGA events across continents—from Brussels to Istanbul—sharing insights from our grassroots work in Bangladesh and engaging in strategy-building sessions with global partners.
WARBE views PGA not only as a space for protest but as a dynamic arena for people-powered policymaking, where alternative visions for migration—grounded in justice, equity, and dignity—are imagined and pursued.