GFMD 2012 will focus on "Enhancing the Human Development of Migrants and their Contribution to the Development of Communities and States". A provisional agenda (as of 3 September 2012) was presented at the High Level Working Group on Asylum and Migration on 13 September.

The first issue on "Global Perspectives on Migration and Development" explores fresh strategies proposed by the GFMD in its fourth year of operation in Mexico and beyond.