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Welcome to the Call to Local Action for Migrant and Refugees space for learning. In order to create a stronger, people-centred narrative on migration and displacement governance, it is important to empower and help develop the capacities of various stakeholders at the local level to implement pragmatic and principled actions.

Massive Online Open Course

Discover our Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) on “Localizing the Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees - Territorial Action on Human Mobility”

In this online course, you will learn about the role of local and regional governments in managing migration, about their actions, and their contribution to global agendas. Podcasts, animated videos, games, and questionnaires will guide you through the different modules of this course.

  • Chapter 1 provides a general introduction to the topic of local migration governance and refugee protection. 

  • Chapter 2 showcases concrete actions local and regional governments can and are implementing to address human mobility. 

  • Chapter 3 connects these actions to global agendas, and introduces the Call to Local Action for Migrants and Refugees, and how your own city or region can contribute to it.

  • Time: 3 hours (1 hour per module)

  • Languages: EN, SP, FR

  • Certificate available upon completion of all 4 modules, assessments and games.

The MOOC is developed by UCLG as part of the Mayors Mechanism (GFMD), steered by UCLG, MMC and IOM, in partnership with UNHCR, MC2CM, ICMPD and UN-Habitat.

Learn here

Peer learning sessions 

The Mayors Mechanism periodically organises peer learning events for local and regional government officials.

The Mayors Mechanism periodically organises peer learning events for local and regional government officials.

“Local Responses to Address Discrimination and Foster Participation for Migrants and Refugees”

14 - 15 November, 2023

Organized by UCLG as part of the Call to Local Action for Migrants and Refugees, this peer learning event “Local Responses to Address Discrimination and Foster Participation for Migrants and Refugees” built on the discussions taking place at the 22nd IOPD Conference “Participatory Democracy for Diverse, Inclusive and Transparent Cities'' (6 - 8 November, 2023) in Rio de Janeiro and at the Brazilian National Network of Welcoming Cities (Rede Nacional de Cidades Acolhedoras) event “Building territories of citizenship” (9-10 November) in Brazil. Cities, regions and partners discussed what it takes to create welcoming environments that uphold human rights and enhance social cohesion and economic vitality.

These two days of interactive discussions and practices shared amongst peers demonstrate that against border-centered approaches to migration and forced displacement, Local and Regional Governments (LRGs) are implementing people-centered policies and actions and to bridge divides between all communities inhabiting, moving across or settling in their cities and towns. By alleviating discrimination faced by migrants, refugees and other displaced communities, and enabling their utmost civic participation, LRGs are co-creating inclusive territories where diversity is celebrated and all neighbors have equal opportunities and rights in the city.   

The learning outputs fed into the messages brought by Mayors Mechanism constituency to the Global Refugee Forum 2023, and the Global Forum on Migration and Development 2024.

You may refer to the video recordings of our peer learning on YouTube as follows:

  1. Day 1 - Introduction, interactive exercise and feedback from IOPD Conference and Cidades Acolhedoras’ event
  2. Day 2 Morning - Presentations and peer review of local practices from the Eastern Hemisphere and open discussion
  3. Day 2 Afternoon - Presentations and peer review of local practices from the Western Hemisphere, open discussion and conclusion.

Likewise, you may refer to the LRG practices presented in this shared folder. For a quick snapshot of our interactive storytelling exercise, you may refer to our mural board.

“Climate Migration and Displacement: What are LRGs doing?” 

4 - 5 July, 2023

As part of the Call to Local Action on Migrants and Refugees, with the participation of Welcoming International, the online peer learning on Climate induced human mobility gathered about 180 participants from over 55 countries, over a series of two-hour online sessions covering different regions of the world on July 4-5, to explore migrant, displaced and refugee-inclusive territorial actions aimed at addressing the drivers and impacts of climate change. The participants comprising municipal workers and practitioners from about 20 cities, city networks, civil society, international organisations and academia discussed emerging trends, promising practices and territorial challenges to improve the livelihoods of communities while contributing to achieve global climate and human mobility goals.

The Virtual Peer Learning event was kickstarted with the preceding three-hour hybrid workshop hosted by the city of Paris delving into the results of their project “Climate Migration in Urban Areas: Challenges, Representations, and Inclusion” with the IOM, and thematic roundtable on local climate migration governance under the framework of the Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD) from June 27-28. 

Dive deeper into the learning outcomes from our activities at the GFMD climate, culture and migration events, via our event summaries here.

The peer learning carried forward these reflections over a series of two-hour online sessions covering different regions of the world on July 4-5, spotlighting 11 LRG practices from the Eastern and the Western Hemispheres . 

These 11 practices were further peer reviewed amongst the city representatives and the civil society and academia experts via an interactive exercise that also assessed the contributions of these local actions to global migration and refugee and the 2030 agendas, by matching them to the fitting priorities of the Call to Local Action for Migrants and Refugees.

Read the Peer Learning Note in English, Spanish and French here.

“Migration and Displacement Amidst Crises: From Humanitarian to Sustainable Responses”

11 - 13 April, 2022

The GFMD Mayors Mechanism supported by UCLG, the Mayors Migration Council, and the IOM convened around 100 participants from local and regional governments (LRGs) from Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Asia, as well as their associations for the peer learning session “Migration and Displacement Amidst Crises: From Humanitarian to Sustainable Responses”. The event showcased the realities, initiatives and challenges of local and regional governments in responding to the impacts of humanitarian emergencies and implementing sustainable and inclusive responses for migrants and displaced persons.

The 3-day event comprised interactive reflection exercises, presentations and peer review of local practices among local and regional governments and their associations, drawing the precise challenges, needs and responses of local and regional governments to displacement flows caused by crises at different stages of the process. 

The learnings of the event fed the messages carried by the Mayors Mechanism on behalf of local and regional governments throughout the International Migration Review forum (IMRF) in May 2022, and provided key lessons and inspirations for LRGs addressing human mobility in context of crises as well as on a daily basis. 

Read the Peer Learning Note in English and Spanish here.