Local and regional governments (LRGs) lead the way in welcoming and supporting migrants and refugees. Many of them do so by meaningfully engaging young migrants and refugees and other young members of the community so they can co-shape the local policies and programmes that affect them now, and in the future. Building onto this experience, the Mayors Mechanism (MM) and Migration Youth and Children Platform (MYCP) have joined forces and collectively call on LRGs; as well as on youth organizations that work directly with LRGs, to join the Call to Local Action for Migrants and Refugees and to submit concrete pledges that foster meaningful youth engagement in local migration governance and forced displacement protection.
To that end, they developed the Guide: ‘Meaningful Engagement of Youth to Localise Global Migration and Forced Displacement Goals’, which highlights the importance of involving youth in migration governance, provides an overview of existing local government partnerships with youth organizations, and gives practical information about the Call to Local Action for Migrants and Refugees.
The Guide was launched today at the 22nd International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (IOPD) in a dedicated session: “Leveraging the Participation of (Young) Migrants and Refugees to Co-design Inclusive Local Policies and Reshape Public Narratives on Human Mobility’, which was hosted by The City of Rio de Janeiro, Migration Youth and Children Platform, United Cities and Local Governments and the International Organization for Migration.
Lais Loureiro, Project Officer at the Migration Youth and Children Platform (MYCP), highlighted during her intervention that MYCP works towards the meaningful engagement of youth in migration and displacement policy to achieve global goals at the local level and believes that the Call to Local Action initiative is a pivotal instrument that will allow local governments to better adhere to the pathways to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees. Youth-led organizations are incentivized to submit concrete pledges that fosters youth engagement on the topic in order to bring visibility and recognition to the importance of working with local governments”.
Outcomes of this event will form an integral part of the upcoming Peer learning on Local Responses to Address Discrimination and Foster Participation for Migrants and Refugees. taking place from 14 – 15 November. Further info here.
The Guide is available in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
