City-to-city partnerships for migration and refugee support
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Mayor Ron Nirenberg of San Antonio and Mayor Yousef Al Shawarbeh of Amman discuss what cities can learn from each other about how to better support refugees and migrants.
Climate change and conflict are increasingly driving displacement and migration, mostly to urban areas. With many cities around the world experiencing migration surges, city-to-city partnerships enable the sharing of best practices and solutions to common challenges.
One example is San Antonio, Texas, United States, and Amman, Jordan, whose mayors recently signed a “Friendship City” agreement aimed at strengthening economic and cultural relations and knowledge-sharing. “I believe very strongly that peace in our world comes first from building relationships between people on the ground, people in communities, one on one,” said San Antonio’s Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who met Amman’s Mayor Yousef Al Shawarbeh through the Mayors Migration Council, a mayor-led coalition working to support refugees and migrants.
In this video, Nirenberg and Al Shawarbeh discuss the challenges their rapidly growing cities face, the importance of city-to-city partnerships, and the coordination needed at all levels to support both refugees and the cities hosting them.
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Video Transcript:
[Speaker 1] Ron Nirenberg, Mayor of San Antonio:
0:03 The first thing we need our cities and our nations to do
0:07 is recognize immigration as a fundamental human right.
0:11 It has great importance to families all around the world,
0:15 and it has sustained our communities
0:19 from the dawn of time.
0:20 It’s part of the fabric of life on this planet.
0:41 San Antonio is the seventh most populous city in the United States.
0:45 We are also the fastest growing city in the country,
0:48 and located in the south Texas region, really in the heart of the Americas.
0:56 Many of the migrants and immigrants in our community come from Central America.
1:01 And roughly one in three San Antonio residents is an immigrant.
[Speaker 2] Yousef Al Shawarbeh, Mayor of Amman:
1:10 Today, in Amman, there are Palestinian refugee camps,
1:15 as well as migrants from Syria, Iraq, and various other countries.
1:20 The population of Amman has doubled in the past 15 years.
1:26 All of this has put immense pressure on infrastructure.
1:30 There is also increased competition in the labor market.
1:34 The Amman municipality, within its strategic plans,
1:38 prioritizes dealing with refugees as city residents.
[Speaker 1] Ron Nirenberg, Mayor of San Antonio:
2:00 I believe very strongly that peace in our world
2:02 comes first from building relationships between people on the ground,
2:06 people in communities, one on one.
2:08 And those relationships are profoundly important,
2:12 especially in an era of great global uncertainty.
2:15 Through the Mayor’s Migration Council, I was able to meet Mayor Al Shawarbeh
2:19 and we established a friendship and also found that our cities face
2:23 unique challenges and have similar aspirations.
2:26 Building partnerships at all levels,
2:30 local, national, and international,
2:33 is essential to provide the necessary support for managing
2:36 migration and refugee conditions.
[Speaker 2] Yousef Al Shawarbeh, Mayor of Amman:
2:39 Recently, support for refugees
2:44 has been declining.
2:46 There must be real support,
2:50 and the international community must take more dynamic actions
2:55 to support both refugees and the cities hosting them.
