A/68/283 Forum meeting, “civil society days” precede the official government programme. Civil society organizations are excluded from most of the Global Forum meetings, except the “common space”, which has been organized during the first morning of the meetings since 2010. Civil society organizations working on different issues relating to migration and development, such as remittances and the role of diasporas, participate in the civil society programme. However, human rights non-governmental organizations, unfortunately, are often not involved. The Special Rapporteur thus urges civil society organizations to have a more explicit human rights framing to their advocacy and activities at the Global Forum. 55. While recognizing that States wish to have some private, informal discussions at the Global Forum, the Special Rapporteur is of the opinion that civil society should have access to more of the Global Forum meetings, as this would bring different perspectives and greatly benefit the discussions. 56. While stating that consultations with international organizations, including those that are part of the Global Migration Group, have greatly benefited the Global Forum process, in particular through the provision of thematic expertise, the consolidated assessment paper concluded that the Global Migration Group, other international organizations and regional entities should not interfere with Global Forum structures and processes. Furthermore, it stated that interventions by international organizations should be limited and the agenda should be set by States and not international organizations or experts. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges that as the Global Forum is a States-led forum, it is appropriate that the agenda be set by States. However, by excluding the Global Migration Group and other organizations from the Global Forum processes, valuable expertise in terms of human rights and normative frameworks, which could greatly benefit the discussions at the Global Forum, is thus not taken into account. 57. The Special Rapporteur believes that there should be a closer link between the Global Forum on Migration and Development and the High-level Dialogue, particularly through the role and expertise of the Global Migration Group. If States decide to hold high-level dialogues more regularly, for instance every three years, the two years between dialogues could be used by States at the Global Forum and other international forums to prepare for the following High-level Dialogue. (b) International Organization for Migration 58. IOM is a large international organization with 151 member States, 12 observer States and more than 7,800 staff members in more than 470 locations. IOM is largely operational in its mandate, acting essentially as a service provider to States, with no legal protection mandate in its Constitution. Its purposes and functions, as set out in its Constitution, include the organized transfer of migrants and the provision of migration services related to recruitment, services for voluntary return and a forum for the exchange of views and practices. 59. As set out in its strategy document, the primary goal of IOM is to facilitate the orderly and humane management of international migration. IOM provides services as requested by States, inter alia, in relation to the assisted voluntary return of migrants. Assisted voluntary return programmes have been criticized for not being genuinely voluntary, particularly when offered to migrants kept in detention centres. The Special Rapporteur stresses the importance of ensuring that they are undertaken with full respect for the human rights of migrants. Furthermore, IOM involvement 13-42115 11/26