GENEVA, 23 Oct. - (ANA) - IOM will bring together ministers, mayors and high level officials in Geneva on 26-27 October 2015 to debate for the first time in a global policy forum, the complex dynamics of human mobility in cities. The High-level Conference on Migrants and Cities (CMC) will assess how challenges can be managed and development opportunities maximized.

With urban population expected to reach almost 70 per cent of the world’s population by 2050, migration is a significant component of cities. Migrants play an important role in the global shift to cities and in driving cities’ development agendas. However, this role seems to be largely overlooked in the global debate on urbanization and development.

Mayors are at the forefront of migration governance, as they are responsible for making and implementing policies and meeting migrants’ needs in their cities. However, their voice has been missing from the global debate on migration and urbanization, and barely present in international policy. -(ANA)

AB/ANA/ 23 October 2015 - - -