PRO M OTING R E FU G E E I NT E G RAT I O N A ND I NC LU SI ON : E M P OW E R I N G M U N I C I PA L I T I E S AC R OSS E U R OP E ON FUNDING To national governments: ● The state budget (whether from national or from EU sources) should proportionately finance tasks of local governments of municipalities hosting large numbers of refugees, providing robust multi-year budgets for local municipal administrations to provide integration support. To the European Commission: ● Develop mechanisms for systematic data collection on municipal housing programs based on funding sources other than government subsidies. These include those derived from issuing bonds (income or regular) by communal companies, direct use of international financial institution loans by cities, and loans from development agencies, local, regional, or national loan funds. Currently these are not monitored systematically and possibilities for expansion/scaling-up with actors involved remain untapped. ● Continue and expand the practices of including earmarked budget for urban investments and greater flexibility to combine different EU funds to focus on integrated urban development and promote metropolitan thinking, both of which have been lauded as positive developments by mayors in several EU countries.77 ● Conduct a stocktaking exercise of the progress made in line with some of the recommendations/ guidelines published as part of flagship migrant/ refugee inclusion/integration initiatives (Urban Agenda, Funding Recommendation Toolkit) in relation to meaningful access to funding 22 P R O MOT IN G R E FUGE E IN T EG R ATIO N AN D IN C LUSIO N : EMP OWE R IN G MUN IC IPAL ITIES ACROS S EUROPE mechanisms, with a representative selection of emblematic municipalities of various population sizes throughout Europe. ● Consider supporting new policies and funding options for local administrations of EU candidate countries, which could be administered by supporting cross-border twinning agreements with municipalities situated within and outside of the EU. To municipal or regional governments (or strategic microregions): ● Create portfolios of investment opportunities78 with information and data on business and investment projects by region and sector to attract private investment. To municipal governments: ● For smaller municipalities, consider intermunicipal cooperation to raise private investors’ interest. Investors often seek larger economies of scale and more integrated development that would make their investments more viable. To development actors and IFIs: ● In collaboration with relevant municipalities, assess the business case and develop financial instruments to encourage private sector investment for enhancing housing stock for refugees and host communities in areas with housing shortages. UNHCR REGIONAL BUREAU FOR EUROPE, AUGUST 2024 ON OPPORTUNITY DECENTRALIZATION To national governments: ● Boost the current potential of municipalities with promising integration prospects: Strategically selected municipalities or regions (smaller/peri-urban municipalities in relatively close proximity to larger cities), can be supported with area-based mapping of housing, infrastructure and income-generating opportunities (including school places, transport facilities, access to services, employment opportunities, incentives from local businesses, and settling-in support). These can later be promoted among refugee networks/ communities as integration support packages to attract interest in these alternative destination towns/cities. ● Facilitate data-sharing mechanisms through which local governments, NGOs and businesses can share, with higher levels of government, information on their integration/absorption capacities. ● Boost the longer-term integration potential of municipalities: Stakeholders from across levels of government, policy sectors and business, academia, and civil society should be proactive in their development of long-term regional attractiveness strategies.79 Although only a small minority of refugees can currently be encouraged to move to smaller cities, future arrivals, including within large-scale influxes may be drawn to less popular destinations if opportunities are incrementally decentralized, support infrastructure improves, and diasporas expand in non-metropolitan urban areas. ● Enhance geographically targeted mechanisms for matching refugee skills and profiles with economic and job opportunities: Investments by governments in coordinated efforts and more methodical matching of individual skills profiles with labour market opportunities of specific municipalities is a complex undertaking, but one that is likely to pay off in the long run. Linked to the recommendation above, OECD projections indicate that by 2050 half of Europe’s economies will need to manage decline and related labour shortages in remote regions.80 ● Strengthen rural-urban/metropolitan linkages: Where such a coordination mechanism is not in place, convene a ‘Labour Market Region’ observatory comprised of municipalities or regions and the main representatives of the private sector of each.81 ON ALLIANCES AND PARTNERSHIPS To the Private Sector ● Engage with National Associations of Local Authorities: These associations are a strategic entry point offering collective support to municipalities. Through its formal collaboration agreement with the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI) UNHCR has been able to amplify its initiatives and activities in support of refugee inclusion, reaching a much larger pool of government, business and community leaders in towns and cities throughout Italy (see emerging practices UNHCR REGIONAL BUREAU FOR EUROPE, AUGUST 2024 section). Associations can also provide unparalleled insights and advocacy opportunities, such as Poland’s Union of Polish Metropolises and the research it produced in the near aftermath of the Ukraine influx to support evidence-based arguments for urgent investment in Polish cities.82 To the European Commission ● Channel more technical support and funding toward concrete outcomes of city-to-city partnerships:83 Knowledge exchanges, networks 23