Lead for Change: Fill in policy and funding gaps through local mandates and public-private partnerships
While mayoral advocacy at the national level is key, systemic change is gradual and must be complemented with practical solutions. Local leaders can leverage the control they do have in a number of policy areas — from housing and land-use planning to police services and local economic development — and use it to support the needs of their migrant population. In the absence of resources or technical capacity, they can form multi-sectoral partnerships and coalitions with private, nonprofit, humanitarian, and academic actors.
Examples from the 100RC Network
Paris — Mobilizing the Paris Community for Refugee Welcome
In Paris, the absence of a national framework has led the municipal government to adopt several bold initiatives. It created the first welcome centers for refugees within Paris’ city boundaries, and also developed the “Mobilizing the Paris Community for Refugee Welcome” plan, a strategic document that leverages current city competencies for managing other vulnerable groups, such as unaccompanied minors or the homeless, and applies them to the refugee population.
Thessaloniki — Open Shelter for Asylum Seeker Families: An Experiment of Living Together
In 2015, the Municipality of Thessaloniki established the country’s first locally administered open shelter for families of asylum seekers. The city government provided an abandoned municipal building in a densely populated neighborhood, and partnered with nongovernmental organizations ARSIS (Association for the Social Support of Youth) and GCR (Greek Council for Refugees), who had the resources and expertise required for the efficient daily operation of the shelter.
