Migrant Rights are Human Rights: Rally at the 2026 IMRF

You’re invited to the rally: Migrant Rights are Human Rights

The NGO Committee on Migration, in collaboration with the Grassroots Forum on Migration Governance, the Civil Society Action Committee, and the Women In Migration Network, invites you to join us for a demonstration directly across from the United Nations Headquarters in New York. 

We recognize that effective advocacy gains its strength not from individual voices alone, but from the power of a collective voice, of people working together toward a shared purpose. We would be honored to have you join us!

Background

The International Migration Review Forum will be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 4-8 May 2026. This forum is vital because it is the central space for discussing progress in implementing the Global Compact for Migration (an international agreement by the UN to improve cooperation on migration and protect migrants’ rights), and it is held only once every four years. 

We (as a collective of civil society organizations and migrant networks from around the world) have engaged in preparations for nearly a year for this event, hosting capacity-building events and launching a campaign to: (1) to resist the erosion of migrant rights, (2) to reclaim power and dignity for all people on the move, and (3) to realize a world where migration policy is rooted in justice, humanity, and hope. It is our aim to make a strong statement to policy-makers that civil society is here, we are watching, we are organized, and we will not be silent.

Given the significant rollback of migrant rights and the increased criminalization of migrants and those who provide support for people on the move, this moment is too urgent to rely upon our typical advocacy initiatives – which include meeting with government representatives, hosting panel events, delivering position statements, and publishing policy briefs. Our advocacy must also incorporate collective action. Consequently, we invite you to join us for a rally for migrant rights.

Rally Logistics

Join us for a peaceful demonstration on Wednesday, 6 May, directly across from the United Nations Headquarters in New York (Gathering at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza) to align with the aforementioned campaign. We plan to hold this rally between 5:30pm-7:00pm. This is the time frame within which the policy-makers will be most likely to see us as they will be leaving the UN to go home for the evening. 

Participants are requested to meet at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza (located at the corner of East 47th Street and 1st Avenue) by 5:30pm. Please wear one or more of the colors of the campaign: teal, red, and/or yellow, or any combination of these colors (see the campaign logos above). We invite you to design your own sign to carry in protest. Our request is that the messaging aligns with the core message of our campaign: migrant rights are human rights. 

We will be led in song and chants by members of the Resistance Revival Chorus, a “collective of more than 60 women, and non-binary singers, who join together to breathe joy and song into the resistance, and to uplift and center women’s voices.”