Mayors Migration Council 2023 Impact Report
LOCAL ACTION, GLOBAL IMPACT
In 2023, we engaged mayors from nearly 100 cities worldwide, bringing our movement to over 250 cities globally. Our coalition has not only secured greater access to diplomatic processes like the UN Global Refugee Forum, but also influenced global and national policy positions, from the UNFCCC’s loss and damage agreement, to USAID’s support for Latin American cities. We have also unlocked millions of dollars in direct investments to cities, bringing the total to over $33 million. Part of this is through the Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees, which is now providing direct funding and implementation support to city governments delivering solutions on climate migration, early childhood development, economic inclusion, and more.
The Mayors Migration Council (MMC) was founded in 2018 by visionary city leaders during the negotiations of the UN Global Compacts for Migration (GCM) and on Refugees (GCR) with a clear mandate: help cities get a seat at the policymaking table and turn these landmark agreements into reality.
I assumed the role of Executive Director in December 2019, during the Global Refugee Forum (GRF), the first-ever global review of the GCR, at a time when mayors were largely excluded from official discussions. Representing the mayoral stakeholder group in the official plenary, I promised that next time, a mayor would address member states directly.
Four years in, we realized this promise. In December 2023, Mayor Marvin Rees of Bristol spoke in the plenary on behalf of the whole mayoral delegation, with other mayors cheering from the floor. This marked a historic advancement for local governments worldwide, actualizing the vision of our founding mayors.
With this seat at the table, mayors showed up with an unprecedented number of commitments. Compared to the 12 city pledges in 2019, in 2023, they announced over 100 city pledges along with $80 million in financial commitments for city solutions —from supporting refugee children in Amman, to creating green jobs for refugees in Kampala, to providing humanitarian and legal aid to asylum seekers in San Antonio or building local-national coordination systems in Zürich.
The 2023 GRF capped a year of significant progress for the MMC. We engaged mayors from nearly 100 cities worldwide, expanding our reach to over 250 cities globally. This includes Mayor Ron Nirenberg of San Antonio, United States, who joined the MMC Leadership Board to bring the voices and experiences of US cities to global policy discussions.
By the Numbers
Vittoria Zanuso, Executive DirectorI am grateful to our mayors for their proactive leadership, our donors and partners for their trust and support, and the MMC team for their relentless dedication. Here’s to another impactful year.
Our coalition has not only secured greater access to diplomatic processes but also influenced global and national policy positions, from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s loss and damage agreement, to United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s support for Latin American cities. We have also unlocked millions of dollars in direct investments to cities, bringing the total to over $33 million. Part of this is through the Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees (GCF), which is now providing direct funding and implementation support to city governments delivering solutions on health, climate migration, economic inclusion, early childhood development, and more.
This is what we call the “elevator model” of the MMC: bring mayors up to influence international decision making and bring resources down so they can deliver local solutions at scale, while building evidence of city leadership in action and feeding positive narratives on migration. In 2023, we saw this approach in action. But we have also seen that, as urban migration and displacement become the new normal, we have only scratched the surface. The demand for our work is increasing, many national governments still limit local action, and the municipal finance gap is still too wide.
As we move into 2024, our focus will be on shaping our strategic direction for 2025-2030, while continuing to deliver impact and build momentum. We aim to elevate city leadership on high-need, high-impact areas such as climate migration, economic inclusion, and pathways; expand mayoral diplomatic efforts beyond traditional migration-only fora and along critical regional corridors and optimizing our municipal finance offerings to cities, as well as donors interested in localizing their giving. We also plan to strengthen our research and innovation capabilities to support evidence-based migration narratives, and to diversify our governance by adding new voices from affected communities. As we grow, we are dedicated to maintaining the MMC’s nimble and creative DNA that makes us unique.
I am grateful to our mayors for their proactive leadership, our donors and partners for their trust and support, and the MMC team for their relentless dedication. Here’s to another impactful year together.
Vittoria Zanuso
Executive Director, Mayors Migration Council
