Highlights

Context:

To support local governments dealing with a high influx of forcibly displaced, the Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI) periodically organizes learning and capacity building activities for municipal and central representatives who are members of the Host Municipalities Learning Network (HMLN).

During the 3^rd Annual Event of the HMLN “Local Economic Development in Host Communities” which took place in Gaziantep, Turkey, November 19-22^nd, 2018, municipal and central representatives from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Turkey gathered agreed about their learning priorities drawing from recent HMLN exchanges. HMLN members reiterated their interest in technical learning on stakeholder engagement and partnerships with private sector, job creation, and the continued focus on social cohesion and youth in the context of forced displacement.

Since June 2016 the Mediterranean Host Municipalities Learning Network supports host local governments with evidence-based knowledge and Capacity Building to improve their response capacity for forced displacement. The Network benefitted from face-to-face workshops and webinars on priority themes, surveys, as well as online discussions in the ad-hoc Collaboration4Development (C4D) online collaborative platform. The Host Municipalities Network is moderated by the Center for Mediterranean Integration, as part of the Mediterranean Refugees and Host Communities Program.

Objectives:

To address HMLN members’ requests, the CMI organizes a Webinar on Private Sector Mobilization. It will offer practical presentations on how to partner with the international, local and refugee private sector in the contexts of forced displacement to create jobs for refugees and host communities.

This Webinar aims to:

• Reconnect HMLN members and follow up on their learning requests;
• Offer technical presentations on practical ways to attract investors at the municipal level;
• Present the new CMI – World Bank publication “Mobilization of Syrian investors and the private sector to boost local economic development in refugee hosting municipalities”.

Participation in the Webinar:

This webinar targets HMLN members, CMI partners and experts. It will consist of a virtual exchange allowing participants to interact by connecting directly from their computer or smartphone with internet connection. Arabic-English simultaneous interpretation will be provided.

Resources:

Agenda and Concept Note

Summary