Strengthening resilience of local communities to the presence of migrants

As part of its mandate to support the OSCE participating States in enhancing the effectiveness of migration policies , the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities has identified as one of its priorities to support effective engagement of local authorities in addressing migration management, integration and related concerns by facilitating global-local co-operation. 

The expert consultation on strengthening the resilience of local communities to the presence of migrants intends to offer inputs and sources of reflection for focussed discussion on the topic. To do so, after a welcoming session, the agenda of the works will envisage two main segments on the following:

• Defining resilience of local communities to the presence of migrants, during which a concept of resilience will be analysed and discussed; and
• Measuring resilience of local communities in migration-related matters, during which ways and methods to assess achievements in fostering resilience will be explored.

A panel discussion will identify key areas for further action while the concluding session will propose a possible roadmap of future steps. 

The consultation will benefit from Discussion papers that will analyse aspects of the concept of resilience from the economic, local governance and social fabric perspectives.

The Expert meeting will gather relevant international and regional organizations – the International Labour Organization, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations’ Development Programme, the Central European Initiative, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development – together with think tanks, national and international experts in the field of migration governance, including OSCE Executive structures and Institutions, academia and research entities, as well as civil society representatives.

Participants will engage in a peer-review process of the Discussion papers through an interactive discussion. The key findings of the Expert meeting will be collected in a report that will be published soon after the event.

The expert meeting will be preceded by a vernissage on Monday 3 July at 7 p.m.: Il signor Sindaco e la città futura (Mister Mayor and the City of the Future), hosted by the Italian Cultural Institute, Ungargasse 43, Vienna.