15 December 2015
IOM Highlights Migrants in Cities, Links to SDG 11
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UN Member States, representatives of international organizations and the civil society discussed trends and challenges related to migrants living in cities, during an event organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Permanent Missions of Ecuador and Germany.

The event also launched the IOM publication 'World Migration Report 2015 – Migrants and Cities: New Partnerships to Manage Urban Mobility.'

iomlogo11 December 2015: UN Member States, representatives of international organizations and the civil society discussed trends and challenges related to migrants living in cities, during an event organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Permanent Missions of Ecuador and Germany. The event also launched the IOM publication, titled ‘World Migration Report 2015 – Migrants and Cities: New Partnerships to Manage Urban Mobility.’

Held on 11 December 2015 in New York, US, the event ‘Migrants and Cities’ served as follow-up to IOM’s High Level Conference on Migrants & Cities, which was part of its International Dialogue on Migration, in Geneva, Switzerland, in October 2015.

Heiko Thoms, Permanent Mission of Germany, noting that most migrants live in cities, said implementing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 on ‘Making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’ is essential to tackling the challenges posed by migration. Morejón Pazmiño, Permanent Mission of Ecuador, stressed the need to: promote the free movement of people; leave no one behind in implementing the SDGs, including migrants; apply the principles of equality and non-discrimination and combat xenophobia; provide access to infrastructure, products and services for all; and incorporate the needs of migrants, refugees, and displaced people in regulatory frameworks, especially for metropoles.

Kazi Fouzia, DRUM – South Asian Organizing Center, described her experience as an undocumented migrant, stressed the need for better organizing migrant communities, and called on governments and Permanent Missions to engage with grassroots organizations that support migrants, in order to really listen to their needs. Oscar Chacon, Executive Director, National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities, said migrants are systematically pushed from urban areas in suburbs and rural areas because of economic inequality and segregation, which denies opportunities for migrants in big cities. He called for a rights-based approach to integrating immigrants in society.

Jacqueline Klopp, Columbia University, said worldwide displacement has reached the highest level known in history, and climate change will make the number increase. With many people moving from rural to urban areas, especially in Africa and Asia, Klopp welcomed SDG 11 as the first global agreement for improving conditions in cities. She called on policymakers to consider informal networks of support for migrants, especially in poor neighborhoods, and to build excellent universal services, not focused on migrants but for all, so that xenophobia does not get more entrenched.

Noting that one third of Calgary’s population is comprised of migrants, Naheed Kurban Nenshi, Mayor of Calgary, speaking via videoconference, said the city must remain as welcoming as possible to attract the best people in the world, from artists to engineers, to be entrepreneurial and generate growth, because “jobs don’t attract people, people attract jobs.” He added that Calgary is very “humbled and honored” to welcome 7,000 refugees from Syria. Ratna Omidvar, Ryerson University, said immigration is national, but integration is local, and called for local leadership from mayors, and partnerships between “usual and unusual” actors to ensure integration.

June Lee, IOM, and editor-in-chief of the World Migration Report 2015, highlighted increasing pressure for adequate services and security provisions in transit cities, and called for effective policy coordination in that regard. [IISD RS Sources] [Meeting Webcast] [Publication: World Migration Report 2015]

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