Cities and Municipalities

Worldwide, cities and towns continue to demonstrate solidarity towards their refugee, internally displaced, and stateless residents. They promote progressive policies around housing and employment, and work to create social cohesion so that all residents feel like they belong in their local communities and have access to shared services.

No urban setting is the same and how services are delivered differs across cities, depending on a range of factors such as decentralization, capacity, and local social-economic contexts. What they have in common is their need to adapt global and national legal protection frameworks to their very local contexts. In doing so, cities show pragmatism and innovation as they are confronted with the challenge of providing access to adequate housing in real time. They make sure their refugee residents have the documentation they need to access local services, often with stretched resources and capacity.

Cities are also banding together, joining networks to show each other support, sharing knowledge and sometimes resources, and learning from each other’s experiences to empower their refugee and internally displaced communities.

This page is a space dedicated to initiatives by cities and their networks worldwide to encourage other cities to join them in doing more, and hopefully drive financial and technical support for these crucial initiatives.