Strengthening Systems of Secondary Cities

Ultimate beneficiaries are migrants, displaced persons, and host communities.

Intermediary beneficiaries will be the (secondary) city stakeholders, local authorities and civil society representing both host and migrant communities, the private sector, and public opinion influencers.

1.     Improved urban planning of secondary cities in an effort to strengthen local inclusion of migrants and forcibly displaced persons. 

2.     Secondary cities capacitated and resourced to provide inclusive services for migrants, displaced persons and host communities.

3.     Increased engagement of cities in global migration and displacement diplomacy and local implementation of global migration and displacement goals.

Principaux résultats attendus:  

·       Target cities of Phase I remain the focus for consolidation of outcomes 1 and 2 in Phase II.

·       9 secondary cities received technical advisory to design and implement tailor-made urban expansion plans.

·       Two knowledge hubs and one practitioner network on enhanced urban planning, forecasting and adaptation tentatively in Ethiopia and Uganda.

·       Eight urban projects designed and implemented in partnership with diverse city stakeholders. Projects focus on proactive management of migration and urbanization, development of municipal reception centres for migrants and voluntary registration services, advisory for newcomers on access to basic services and decent work opportunities.

·       3 Secondary cities have access and are formally represented in 8 state-led processes at the regional and global level and will contribute to 45 policy statements/contributions and 90 global dialogues on topics such as inclusive pandemic response, climate migration, and migration governance.

·       Cities will inform 30 global positions on migration and displacement issues and facilitate 30-50 city pledges to advance global goals on migration and displacement (30-50% of which from non-megacities).

Principaux résultats antérieurs:   In Phase I, nine secondary cities across five countries in the Horn of Africa, Tunisia, and Guatemala partnered to design and test local migration management approaches. Partnerships were built with three leading knowledge brokers – the World Bank, the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University, and the urban expansion planning team of New York University. Phase I demonstrated that secondary cities are at the forefront of managing migration dynamics and that local actors can influence the content of global positions on migration and displacement ensuring that they reflect on-the-ground priorities. The MMC’s facilitation of global dialogues between cities and global actors both contributed to influencing national policy positions on issues of global concern, to facilitating the flow of technical assistance from UN providers to cities. Concrete results from Phase I include the MMC’s mobilization of a coalition of 15 US mayors to engage in a dialogue with the US government on climate migration, the drafting of urban expansion plans, the creation of resource and registration centres for migrants in secondary cities, the improvement of settlements for internally displaced people (IDPs), the construction of local markets for refugee communities and the facilitation of labour market opportunities for migrants. Overall 44’000 migrants and host communities participated in these activities while 170’000 households benefited directly.

Phase II is co-funded by SDC’s LAC Division and synergies will be developed with the programme on inclusive urbanization (7F-10868.01).

The programme will seek to build synergies with UNCDF and ACUMEN/RIN in the Horn of Africa. (Financing Durable Solutions for Forcibly Displaced People (FDSI) 7F-10857.01 in the Horn of Africa)

The program will be closely coordinated with SECO and its experience in urban contexts.