Salim Korkmaz, UCLG-MEWA General Coordinator participated in the 2nd Preparatory Meeting for the International Forum on Local Solutions to Migration and Displacement, which was held in Gaziantep, Turkey on 28 August, 2019. During the meeting, task sharing among the partners were clarified, speakers and invitees to the Forum have been reviewed and communication strategy was discussed.
The Forum, co-organized by United Cities and Local Governments Middle East and West Asia section (UCLG-MEWA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality (Turkey) and World Academy for Local Authorities and Democracy (WALD), will be held in Gaziantep, Turkey on 26-27 November 2019. Supported by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Migration Agency (IOM), the Forum will give cities and local development partners the opportunity to exchange good practices in dealing with migration and displacement.
Assessments made at the ‘Migration, Displacement and Community Resilience Conference’ held in Belgrade, Serbia on 4-5 October 2016 provides the background for the Forum’s agenda. The attendance of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality in the conference, which gathered 16 municipalities from 8 countries including Turkey, as the host municipality of the Forum was of particular importance in terms of accelerating the process.
Home to 500,000 refugees in temporary protection status, Gaziantep will surely be a meaningful meeting point for the experts in the field of migration. The Forum aims to facilitate city-level partnerships and to empower the existing networks of relevant local development partners responding to migration and refugees.
This significant gathering will take place under the main themes of localization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), creation of employment and cooperation with the private sector, sustainable cities and environment, multi-level governance, civil society, gender equality and social cohesion, new technologies and information management, and collaboration between local governments. One of the key outcomes of the Forum will be adoption of the 2019 Gaziantep Declaration which includes good practices on the implementation of global and regional principles to provide local solutions to migration and displacement.
The 3rd Preparatory Meeting of the Forum will be held in on 17.09.2019, at the WALD Premises in the World Trade Center in Istanbul, Turkey.