On 2 February 2017 at 11.00 hours, H.E. Ambassador William Lacy Swing, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) paid a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, on the occasion of his visit to Thailand as one of the co-hosts of the Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC). 

 

Ambassador Swing congratulated Thailand on the success of the PMAC and its assumption of the chairmanship of the Foreign Policy and Global Health (FPGH) for the year 2017. He expressed IOM’s support and readiness to cooperate with Thailand as a champion for the promotion of migrant health.

 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs also congratulated IOM on its new relationship with the United Nations, as a “Related Organization” on 19 September 2016. Ambassador Swing reiterated that the new relationship will strengthen cooperation with the United Nations while also enhancing the IOM’s ability to fulfill its mandate in regards to migration.

 

The two also discussed the robust partnership between Thailand and the IOM, which has spanned 40 years. In 2015 some noteworthy cooperation includes the IOM’s support of the Royal Thai Government in the voluntary return of the pilot group of 71 displaced persons from Myanmar and the Thai Government’s support of the IOM in its efforts to carry out the Regional Information Campaign to Address Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean.

 

This year the PMAC is hosted by the Royal Thai Government with the collaboration of the IOM, World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), China Medical Board, Rockefeller Foundation, Chatham House, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.