6th Mayoral Forum on Migration and Development

Imagen

On January 22nd, over 80 mayors and officials from 56 cities and regions gathered in Quito, Ecuador, for the 6th Mayoral Forum on Migration and Development within the Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD). While in the past city representatives were invited to the GFMD only on an ad hoc and informal basis, this was the first time in the history of this state-led Forum that local authorities were formally recognized as a key stakeholder and allowed to interact with national counterparts during Government Roundtables and Common Space sessions.

The theme of this year’s Mayoral Forum was ‘From Large Movements to the Global Compacts: Cities as First Responders’. Discussions focused on the implementation of the Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees, and on the Marrakesh Mayors Declaration adopted in 2018.

Cities also joined a Call to Local Action on Migration to elevate existing work and accelerate new action on both Compacts, and committed to partner with governments and stakeholders to ensure that human-centred migration policies are effectively implemented, but with three asks:

  • Access: institutionalize cities’ access and influence in the GFMD and other state-led processes.

  • Policy Coherence: create structures and processes to regularly and meaningfully consult cities on national migration policy and operations.

  • Partnerships: test and invest in new partnership models whereby cities work directly with humanitarian and development actors and can access technical support and financing.