YEREVAN, JUNE 19, ARMENPRESS. The Belgian government and the city of Mechelen will host a ‘Global Conference on Cities and Migrants’ on November 16 and 17, the Belgian Foreign Ministry said, Interfax reported.

The conference will be held with cooperation of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), UN Habitat and the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) organization.

The statement of the Foreign Ministry says the conference organizers plan to put an emphasis on the importance of ‘orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration’.

“This conference comes at a time when there is an all-time high of more than 250 million migrants worldwide. This number of migrants is expected to continue to grow. If we want this evolution to contribute to human development, we need coherent and inclusive approaches”, the Ministry’s statement quotes Alexander De Croo, Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Development Cooperation.