The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) was founded in 1993, upon the initiative of Austria and Switzerland. The organisation was created to serve as a support mechanism for informal consultations, and to provide expertise and efficient services in the newly emerging landscape of multilateral cooperation on migration and asylum issues. ICMPD is an international organisation with 15 Member States (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland), 146 staff members, a mission in Brussels and regional offices and representatives throughout Europe, Northern Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. We receive funding from our Member States, the European Commission, the UN and other multilateral institutions, as well as bilateral donors. ICMPD holds UN observer status.