Switzerland - IOM’s Conference on Migrants and Cities, which took place 26-27 October at the UN in Geneva, brought mayors and other local actors to the centre of the migration debate. It followed IOM’s milestone Diaspora Ministerial Conference held in 2013.

The event was organized within the framework of IOM’s International Dialogue on Migration and gathered numerous mayors and local authority representatives, ministers, international organizations, NGOs, academia, the private sector and migrants to discuss local migration management and the key role of local authorities in migration policy making.

The conference reconfirmed that migration towards cities will be increasing in the next decades and that local authorities will need to be prepared to face the challenges that come with this trend. Local leaders agreed that cities are at the center of migration challenges and thus they should be frontrunners in the planning and provision of policies on migration and urbanization. Mayors have valuable knowledge and experience that can be fed into the policy cycle to enhance the efficacy of national policies.

Mayors concurred that migrants contribute to the image of cities and drive prosperity.  Mayors and local actors showed how they use the potential that migration has brought to their cities, and policies they have put in place to address related challenges, such as the burden on infrastructure and the integration of migrants.

Participants showed that migrants can support local authorities in efficiently managing migration and the challenges of inclusion and diversity it implies. Migrants and diaspora can act as bridge-builders and promoters of development. They can contribute to reducing risks of urban crises and in building the resilience of cities of destination and localities in their areas of origin.

Delegates highlighted the role international organizations such as IOM have in assisting local authorities at the policy, research and operational levels and in fostering collaboration between local and national authorities, as well as with non-governmental actors.

Participants noted the impact of urbanisation on rural areas and the challenges associated with shrinking rural populations as well as the socio-economic impact on those left behind, such as the young, the sick and the elderly. These issues need to be incorporated in policymaking.

Mayors stressed that stopping migration to cities would lead to economic failure. The extent to which migrants are integrated in local policy planning will determine how well human mobility can positively affect cities.  The integration of migrants needs to feature in all aspects of public policy.

The conference concluded that good urban governance requires partnerships between local and central authorities and the inclusion of all relevant actors, including civil society organization and the private sector. Meaningful dialogue at all levels of government in planning, managing and governing urbanisation and migration is paramount.

In closing the conference, IOM Director General William Lacy Swing told delegates that they have the advantage of being at the forefront of daily migration management. “As such you can contribute significantly to changing the narrative and improving the national public perception of migration,” he said.

By bringing together local authorities, central governments and relevant national and international actors to discuss migration management and exchange good practices, the conference represented an important step in the promotion of cohesion and collaboration in migration governance.

The outcomes of the meeting will provide inputs to a series of processes, including the second Mayoral Forum on Mobility, Migration and Development and the UN Habitat III, which will be held next year in Ecuador.

The conference was also the venue of the launch of IOM’s flagship World Migration Report 2015, Migrants and Cities: New partnerships to manage mobility. The report is the eighth in IOM’s World Migration Report series and focuses on how migration and migrants are shaping cities and how the life of migrants is shaped by cities, their people, organizations and rules. 

The report takes a global perspective, with particular attention to the situation of migrants in the cities of the Global South. As a result, and for the first time in the WMR series, the 2015 report examines both internal and international migration.

In addition to English, French and Spanish, the report will also be available in Chinese, Arabic, and Russian. For more information on the report, please visit https://worldmigrationreport.iom.int/2015

For more information please visit http://www.iom.int/conference-migrants-and-cities.

For further information please contact Azzouz Samri at IOM HQ, Tel: + 41 227 179 468, Email: asamri@iom.int or IDM Workshop at idmworkshop@iom.int