On February 20, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See Mission to the United Nations gave an intervention during the first round of intergovernmental negotiations for the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, specifically regarding the preamble, vision and guiding principles. This week is the first of six negotiation sessions on the Compact to take place one week per month for the next six months.

In his statement, Archbishop Auza praised the "action-driven approach" taken in the draft and said it contains key elements that can make migration safer and more orderly. Among his comments, he stressed the importance of regarding migration as a two-way process based in mutual respect, the need to promote poverty eradication and the commitment to safeguard human rights. The Holy See will be participating in negotiations and delivering statements with more specific comments, suggestions and proposed edits during the various rounds of negotiations.

The statement can be found here.