Cities today are at the fore of one of the most urgent, global realities: migration and forced displacement, with nearly 70 percent of displaced people seeking refuge in urban areas. The Mayors Migration Council (MMC) was established to equip mayors with the tools, influence, and resources needed to turn migration into a driver of resilience and shared prosperity. This evaluation reviews the MMC’s start-up phase from 2020 to 2024, assessing its achievements, its challenges, and its role within the broader ecosystem of city networks.

Why This Matters

Migration shapes the futures of both cities and displaced people. By enabling mayors to influence global, regional, and national policy; secure resources; and deliver inclusive solutions locally, the MMC is positioned to help cities respond more effectively to the needs of migrants and host communities. Policymakers, funders, city leaders, and international partners will find lessons in how city-led action can complement and inform national and multilateral approaches.

What We Found

This evaluation found that the MMC advanced its theory of change and filled a critical gap in the migration governance ecosystem by elevating the leadership of cities. Over its first five years, the MMC achieved the following:

• Built and fostered mayoral leadership. The MMC remained mayor-led, engaging more than 275 cities with an average of 71 active cities annually. Its governance reflected regional representation, and participation stayed strong through mayoral transitions. Mayors and staff consistently praised the organization’s technical expertise and high-touch support.
• Elevated city leadership on global migration. The MMC secured unprecedented access for cities to high-level international forums and influenced resulting policy agendas. More than 120 city leaders pledged action through the Call to Local Action, and 15 mayors joined task forces on issues such as pandemic response, climate migration, and regional pathways. Smaller cities gained new access to diplomacy, while larger ones leveraged the MMC to strengthen existing influence.
• Mobilized resources for city action. Through its Global Cities Fund, the MMC awarded $5 million to 26 city-led projects that together reached more than 100,000 people. Overall, the MMC’s advocacy and partnerships mobilized over $40 million for city initiatives, with Global South cities most frequently accessing support. The MMC also delivered technical support to cities on migration governance and implementation of the United Nations Global Compact for Migration.
• Shifted narratives around migration. The MMC contributed to over 600 media and knowledge placements, spotlighting cities for innovative practices and international leadership, thereby influencing global migration discourse.
• Reinforced its value within the city network ecosystem. Stakeholders emphasized the MMC’s agility, issue-specific focus, and ability to pair diplomacy, narrative change, and direct funding as distinctive contributions compared with broader technical networks.

The evaluation also identified challenges: difficulty attributing outcomes, hostile national political contexts, low participation commitments, and risks from mayoral turnover. Our recommendations include strengthening leadership engagement, broadening diplomatic arenas, ensuring sustainability of Global Cities Fund projects, and deepening communications and learning strategies.

How We Did It

Urban Institute conducted a retrospective evaluation of the MMC’s first five years (2020–24), building on the monitoring and evaluation framework developed after its launch. We examined progress against the MMC’s theory of change through multiple methods: analysis of internal programmatic data; a survey of participating cities administered by the MMC annually from 2022 to 2024; 22 interviews with city leaders, partners, peer networks, and nonparticipating cities; and a review of relevant literature.