Work Towards a Comprehensive Whole-Of-Government Coordination Mechanism between Swiss Cities and the National Government Towards the 2023 Global Refugee Forum - Zürich

Switzerland

May 19

Written By Sophie van Haasen

Zürich

Mayor

Corine Mauch

Start of Project

11/17/2021

End of Project

December 2023

Overview

In the context of the GCR review process, the Swiss national government and interested Swiss cities have started to build a dialogue with a view to enabling a shared understanding on the GCR, the different but complementary roles of national and local government in implementation and the added-value of coordination and cooperation, including on ensuring whole-of-government engagement in the GCR review process at national and global level. Owing to the involvement of the Mayor of Zürich in the Mayors Migration Council (MMC), Zürich has already maintained informal relations with the national government on an ad hoc basis. The City of Zürich was part of the official Swiss delegation both to the GRF in 2019 and the HLOM 2021. However, there is no structured and inclusive (of all interested local governments) national coordination mechanism for the benefit of a comprehensive whole-of-government response to the global GCR implementation and review process. Building on its role in the MMC, the City of Zürich is committed to working with the national government of Switzerland and interested Swiss cities towards this aim in view of the upcoming second edition of the GRF in 2023.

Expected Impact

The objective of this action is to establish a structured and inclusive whole-of-government mechanism that allows for more effective coordination and collaboration between the national and local government levels for GCR implementation and review. This institutional improvement shall benefit refugees hosted in Switzerland or assisted by Switzerland abroad through better policy-making and implementation involving all government levels and relevant stakeholders.