Cities are primary migrant destinations and places where communities with diverse socio-cultural backgrounds and identities converge. Within cities, informal settlements and inner-city areas are home to both low-income migrants and residents of the local population. Sharing experiences from South Africa and other urban contexts, an expert panel of migration scholars and development practitioners will reflect on urban migration patterns and (anti-) migration politics, as well as on guiding concepts and practical approaches for advancing urban social cohesion and inclusion.
A keynote address by Nomzamo Zondo, director of the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI), will be followed by a panel with four experts, a discussion with the audience and a closing wrap-up. While the new wave of xenophobia currently staged in South African cities serves as a starting point, the event includes insights from countries across Africa and the Middle East. It shall contribute to an enhanced understanding of key ingredients, determinants and barriers of urban belonging and togetherness based on residence rather than citizenship status.

Moderator: Eva Dick (Misereor)

Speakers:

• Nomzamo Zondo (Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, SERI)
• Rose Jaji (German Institute of Development and Sustainability, IDOS)
• Loren B. Landau (Oxford University, UK; University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa)
• Mariana Giacaman Ghawaly (Misereor)