Welcome to the website of the 13th International Metropolis Conference in Bonn, Germany`s UN-City and North-South Centre.
Welcome to the website of the 13th International Metropolis Conference in Bonn, Germany's UN-City and North-South Centre. It was an honour to be the first host of Metropolis in Germany.
We are pleased that we were able to host the conference at a time when Germany is undertaking a series of important migration policy reforms - many of which are inspired by and reflect policy initiatives at both the European and international levels. A change of perspective is evident in the policy debate whose focus is no longer limited to restriction and control. It is a discussion and a process increasingly guided by the recognition of migration's benefits as well as its challenges. In a world of increasing mobility characterised by complex, but not always explicit links between developments in sending and receiving countries, there is a growing consensus that any attempt to formulate comprehensive policies in the field must, from the outset, be based on a process of dialogue and partnership amongst the many stakeholders at home and abroad who shape the face of migration today.
The Metropolis Conference has always been an excellent opportunity to intensify this dialogue. A valuable forum for prominent policy makers and internationally renowned researchers, the Metropolis Conference is also a unique stage for representatives of organisations large and small, charged with the task of doing the work on the ground, in local authorities, in schools, in the work place and in the families and in the communities of migrant themselves.
We hope that the 13th Metropolis Conference in Bonn, by highlighting the links between mobility, integration and development has been an interesting platform from which to advance this debate.
I look back to an insightful and rewarding exchange on one of the most important issues on the international agenda in Bonn.
Sincerely,
Armin Laschet
Minister of Intergenerational Affairs, Family, Women and Integration
of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
