Global Cities Fund for an Inclusive Pandemic Response
fund@mayorsmigrationcouncil.org
Related Sustainable Development Goals and Global Compact for Migration Objectives
Summary
The Global Cities Fund (GCF) is an initiative to respond to the unmet needs of cities as they support migrants, refugees, and internally displaced people (IDPs) during COVID-19. The GCF provides financial and technical support to cities from low-to-middle income countries to implement projects related to public health, livelihoods, and inclusive social services. 5 cities have already carried out projects (Barranquilla, Colombia; Beirut, Lebanon; Lima, Peru; Freetown, Sierra Leone; and Mexico City, Mexico), with several starting implementation soon. MMC hopes to support 22 cities by 2022 via this initiative.
Key objective
Launched as an outcome of the MMC’s Global Mayors Solidarity Campaign, the objective of the Global Cities Fund for Inclusive Pandemic Response is to provide financial and technical support to city-level projects that address the urgent needs of migrants, refugees, and IDPs during COVID-19 while empowering local leadership to institute inclusive practices that can be scaled and replicated elsewhere.
Main activities
The Fund offers international donors a pipeline of vetted city-led proposals backed by strong mayoral leadership on migration and displacement issues; directly channels international resources to city governments; supports projects of cities’ own design; and accelerates local efforts by providing city grantees with customized technical and advocacy support services, and by connecting them with city peers and international partners. By directly funding cities to implement inclusive response and recovery programs of their design, the Fund builds precedents of fiscal feasibility in city governments within low to middle-income countries that are often disregarded by donors with low risk tolerance, despite these cities’ tremendous efforts in protecting migrant and displaced residents.
Beneficiaries
City governments and leaders, host communities, refugees, migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
