The key role of cities and other local and regional authorities as first responders to migration and displacement is recognised in the New Urban Agenda adopted at the UN Habitat III Conference in Quito last October 2016. Moreover, the positive contributions of migration and displacement to development are now enshrined in the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in which cities are at the centre of securing safe, inclusive, resilient and sustainable living spaces. Progressively, local and regional authorities are deemed strategic actors within inter-governmental deliberations on migration policy. This is true for the annual Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), whose 10 th edition will take place in Berlin Germany on 28-30 June 2017. It is also the case for the consultative process underway to define a new agreement between States, known as the “Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration”. After theadoption of the “New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants” at the UN on 19 September 2016, States have agreed to develop this Global Compact on Migration by December 2018, in consultation with relevant parties including local authorities.

Areas of Focus

Launched at the UN General Assembly’s High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development (HLD) in October 2013, the Mayoral Forum on Mobility, Migration and Development (“Mayoral Forum”) is an annual City-led dialogue on social inclusion. The Mayoral Forum provides an incubating space where local leaders can share practical and inventive solutions to governing migration, protecting rights and promoting inclusive economic growth.  Partners explore how good practices can be replicated in other cities, and identify resources required for local implementation.  What is more, it acts as a bridge, opening access for cities and regional governments to policy circles where they can inform and be informed by national and international policy-making. In so doing, the Mayoral Forum fosters local adaptation and implementation of common principles, based on international standards. The Fourth Mayoral Forum, entitled “Mayors as Humanitarian Actors: Preparing, Welcoming and ntegrating” will take place in the City of Berlin at the Rotes Rathaus (City Hall) on 26 and 27 June 2017. Mayors from around the world will be invited to share their experiences in straddling the humanitarian imperatives of reception of large numbers of new arrivals whether from conflict, natural disaster or other phenomena. Mayors will also be invited to speak on the subject of longer-term challenges of governing integration: fostering pluralism, by which recognition of the value of diversity also implies acknowledging its complexities and struggles. In this connection, they will discuss whether and if so how, migration has fostered economic growth and human development in their communities. Lastly, Mayors will be invited to explain progress through city-to- city partnerships, and the value of networks amongst cities within their countries, regions and beyond to learn about new and promising policies and practices.

Visit our inventory of tools page for an overview of capacity development work in the field of migration.