UAE 2020

In Italy, the System for the Protection of Refugees and Unaccompanied Minors (SIPROMI) is a publicly funded network of local authorities and NGOs, which accommodates unaccompanied children and provides them access to the Italian social protection system, including legal support, legal guardianship, access to health, including psychological counselling, access to Italian language classes and to mainstream education programmes. In some contexts, opportunities for vocational training and job opportunities through partnerships with social cooperatives and the private sector.

New York City, US launched a municipal program in 2019 to expand universal health care so that regardless of insurance, ability to pay, or immigration status all residents can seek services without fear of discrimination. Having established this program prior to COVID-19 was critical to the city’s ability to respond rapidly and inclusively when the pandemic hit

International initiatives such as the Call to Action: “Remittances in Crisis: How to Keep Them Flowing”, launched by Switzerland and the United Kingdom in May 2020, have also contributed to leveraging remittances and other migration-related financial flows to assist local COVID-19 response and recovery interventions.

Municipalities across the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina hired migrants from Venezuela with professional medical degrees that had not yet been revalidated by the national government. Some 4,500 doctors, nurses, and other health professionals were hired.

This project intended to experiment and test the Global Skills Partnership (GSP) model between Morocco and Belgium, and thereby facilitate the cooperation between the two countries in the management of regular migration.

This action was submitted through the GFMD Mayors Mechanism Call to Local Action for Migrants and Refugees.

Portugal was (one of) the first countries in the world to approve its National Plan to implement the Global Compact on Migration. The National Implementation Plan is structured around the following 5 fundamental axes: 

• Promotion of safe, orderly and regular migration; 

• Improvement of migration flow organization and integrated border management processes; 

• Promotion and qualification of immigrant reception and integration mechanisms;

• Supporting the connection of migrants to their country of origin and their return projects; 

Recognizing the importance of data provision in migration policy, the enaction of Presidential Regulation No. 39 of 2019 on One Data Indonesia, aims to help government to collect, manage, and utilize data accurately: sophisticatedly, integrated, accountable, accessible, and usable. Following this regulation, the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) has initiated the One International Migration Data project, which will facilitate collection of data on migration during the population census in 2020.

Formally launched in the Word Urban Forum in 2019, the GFMD provided the opportunity to further discuss and follow-up on the Call to Local Action to implement the Global Compacts for Migration (GCM) and Refugees (GCR). Following the Marrakesh Mayors Declaration, which was signed by over 60 LRAs in December 2018, the Call to Local Action calls on LRAs to pledge specific actions that contribute to the implementation of the Migration and Refugee Compacts.

The Municipality of La Pintana, Chile, has kick-started a project working with local businesses called ‘Migra Empresas’, which seeks to bring job offers to migrants and where the city administration provides legal and technical assistance to companies.  This program is part of La Pintana's commitment to work in five areas to make the commune an intercultural territory, inclusive and free of discrimination:

1- Institutionality that addresses the migrant reality.

2- Education and training plans for municipal personnel in this matter.