The peer learning program titled “Migration and Displacement in the Contexts of Crisis: What are Local and Regional Governments (LRGs) doing to save and protect lives?” was held online on April 11-13.
The event was organized by the GFMD Mayors Mechanism, which is carried by UCLG, the Mayors Migration Council (MMC), and the UN International Organization for Migration. The meetings, with many participants from different parts of the world, were carried out with the support of the UCLG Working Group for Territorial Prevention and Management of Crises, the Mediterranean City-to-City Migration Project (MC2CM), the Global Alliance for Urban Crises, the Global Task Force on Migration (GTFM), and the National Association of Welcoming Cities and Territories (ANVITA).
The event was organized to highlight the approaches of local and regional governments in times of crisis, to share practices and crisis period experiences from different regions, and to contribute to the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF), which is held every 4 years at the Headquarters of the UN on May 17-20. The event proceeded with two different concepts. On the one hand, LRG representatives from different parts of the world shared their experiences of crisis and migration. On the other hand, the concept of migration was discussed from the perspective of immigrants and local governments with the simulations created.
Yehia IBRAHIM, officer of the UCLG-MEWA Committee on Social Inclusion, provided facilitation on behalf of GTFM in the experience sharing session attended by the representatives of the Municipality of Fuenlabrada from Spain, Notse Municipality from Togo, Dedougoui Municipality from Burkina Faso, Municipality of Cauayan from the Philippines, Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality from Turkey, and Municipal Association of Bangladesh from Bangladesh. In the sessions, participants discussed how different experiences respond to different needs, how these responses transform over time, what can be learned from them in the long term, their relations with the global agenda, and their contributions to global discussions were discussed. In the first session of the last day, the session was summarized and the data collected was shared with all participants by GTFM.
While the last day of the event was focused on the Ukraine crisis and session reports, Ricardo Rio, Mayor of Braga, expressed that the European cities are attempting to develop a commitment to the Ukraine crisis. The program ended with the closing remarks of Emilia Saiz, UCLG Secretary General.
