Mayors Migration Council Announces New Commitment to Action for Economic Inclusion of Urban Migrants and Refugees at Clinton Global Initiative 2024 Annual Meeting
New York City, September 23, 2024 —The Mayors Migration Council (MMC), a coalition of over 250 mayors worldwide advancing global action on migration and displacement, announced today a bold new Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action focused on economic inclusion for urban migrants and refugees. This commitment, unveiled at the 2024 Annual CGI Meeting, aims to drive city-led solutions that foster economic self-reliance of newcomers and ensure socio-economic inclusion in cities, which house over 70 percent of displaced persons and generate 80 percent of global GDP.
Despite their economic potential, migrants and refugees often face substantial barriers including legal constraints, discrimination, and a lack of financial support, which restrict their access to economic opportunities. “Migrants and refugees are invaluable to local economies, filling labor shortages and bringing essential skills,” said Vittoria Zanuso, Executive Director of MMC. “This initiative will offer the data, resources, and policies needed to prove that migration is not a crisis, but an opportunity for economic growth, while equipping local leaders with the tools to implement real solutions for their new residents.”
Starting in 2025, the initiative seeks to address these challenges through a multi-year approach:
- Advocacy: Assemble a coalition of global mayors to shape international economic policies affecting migrants and refugees.
- Action: Launch a new funding window within the Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees to back city-led inclusion projects.
- Knowledge: Develop insights to support mayoral advocacy and practical actions focused particularly on green economic sectors.
City leaders worldwide are already driving impactful solutions, from vocational training for Venezuelans in Barranquilla, Colombia, to green job creation programs in Milan, Italy, or microenterprises for migrant youth in Freetown, Sierra Leone. However, they continue to face systemic obstacles like insufficient local data, restrictive national policies, and limited financial access which this initiative aims to overcome.
The MMC is calling for donors, partners, and thought leaders to join and expand this transformative initiative. For more information on how to support this commitment, visit [CGI CTA webpage] or reach out to fund@mayorsmigrationcouncil.org.
For more information about the Mayors Migration Council, visit www.mayorsmigrationcouncil.org. For press inquiries, contact Cynthia Nahhas, Communications Associate, at the Mayors Migration Council, at cnahhas@mayorsmigrationcouncil.org. For press inquiries regarding CGI, contact press@clintonfoundation.org
About the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)
Founded by President Bill Clinton in 2005, the Clinton Global Initiative is a community of doers representing a broad cross section of society and dedicated to the idea that we can accomplish more together than we can apart. Through CGI’s unique model, more than 10,000 organizations have launched more than 4,000 Commitments to Action — new, specific, and measurable projects and programs – that are making a difference in the lives of more than 500 million people in 180 countries.
About the Mayors Migration Council
The Mayors Migration Council (MMC) is a mayor-led coalition that accelerates ambitious global action on migration and displacement to create a world where urban migrants, displaced people, and receiving communities can thrive. To achieve our mission, we provide mayors with advocacy, coordination, and communications support to influence policy decisions at the national and international level, and connect city governments to the knowledge, technical, and financial resources they need to accelerate and scale local solutions.
Created by mayors for mayors, the MMC is guided by a Leadership Board of global city leaders and operates with the institutional support of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the IKEA Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the Robert Bosch Stiftung, in addition to other donors.
The MMC is managed under the oversight of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), a 501(c)(3) public charity in the United States.
Read the MMC’s 2023 Impact Report for more background.
To learn more visit www.mayorsmigrationcouncil.org or follow us on X, Facebook
and LinkedIn.
About the Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees
The MMC’s Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees (GCF) responds to the unmet needs of cities as they support migrants, refugees, and internally displaced people in the face of pressing challenges, from global pandemics to the climate crisis. By directly funding cities to implement inclusive programs of their own design, the GCF builds precedents of fiscal feasibility in city governments that are often disregarded by donors with low risk tolerance.
The GCF is supported by the Bernard van Leer Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the IKEA Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and the Robert Bosch Stiftung. It is led by the MMC in partnership with six key Strategic Partners: the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, the UN Migration Agency (IOM), Metropolis, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
To learn more, visit www.mayorsmigrationcouncil.org/gcf and follow #GlobalCitiesFund on social media.
