Cities Alliance is pleased to welcome two new members to the Cities Alliance Assembly: The International Institute for the Environment and Development (IIED) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
Both organisations bring valued perspective and experience to the partnership, whether it is SDC’s goal of development cooperation to reduce poverty and foster economic self-reliance and state autonomy, or IIED’s mission to build a fairer, more sustainable world using evidence, action, and influence in partnership with others.
About the IIED
IIED is a policy and action research organization, and is joining the Cities Alliance in the knowledge category. It promotes sustainable development to improve livelihoods and protect the environments on which these livelihoods are built, with an emphasis on linking local priorities to global challenges.
Based in London, IIED is active in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific. It works with some of the world’s most vulnerable people to strengthen their voice in the decision-making arenas that affect them, from village councils to international conventions. IIED has been a longtime partner of Cities Alliance and is a member of our Joint Work Programme for Resilient Cities.
About the SDC
The SDC is Switzerland’s international cooperation agency within the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. It is responsible for the overall coordination of development activities and cooperation with Eastern Europe, as well as for the humanitarian aid delivered by Switzerland.
In recent years, it has developed global thematic programmes as instruments for focusing on global challenges and bringing innovation to international policy dialogue. The SDC will engage with Cities Alliance primarily through its Global Programme on Migration and Development, which aims to leverage the developmental potential of migration.
Migration and its role in shaping urban growth has been a significant issue for Cities Alliance, and it was the topic of the 2015 Call for Proposals for our Catalytic Fund. We look forward to working closely with SDC as it focuses its migration approach on including the local level strategically and secondary cities, which are among the most impacted by migration. The SDC joins the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in representing Switzerland at the Cities Alliance.
SDC to Establish JWP on Migration and Cities
The Cities Alliance is pleased to announce the intention of SDC to establish a multi-year Joint Work Programme on Migration & Cities, in line with the priority placed on this timely topic in both organisations’ upcoming strategic plans. SDC and the Cities Alliance will be convening the first face-to-face meeting of the Joint Work Programme together with international thought leaders and Swiss experts in Berne on 18 October 2017. The one-day meeting will brainstorm on the prospective thematic contours of the Joint Work Programme as well as potential approaches and innovative instruments to address strategic gaps for cities in support of the global goals in Agenda 2030, the New Urban Agenda and the upcoming Global Compact for Migration.
