Non-State Actors & Local Authorities in the Global Compact for Migration
Channel: UNU MERIT
Date: 2023-06-12

Raphaela Schweiger will speak about her new book 'Beyond states: The Global Compact for Migration and the role of non-state actors and cities', and her take on the evolution and future of global migration governance. In her book, she investigates the role and influence of non-state actors (NSAs) and local authorities in the process leading to the adoption of the 2018 Global Compact for Migration (GCM), the first intergovernmental negotiation of its kind at the UN.

The research draws upon methods initially applied to assess global climate negotiations, and for the first time analyzes the influence of NSAs and local authorities in an international negotiation on migration. It builds on an assessment of the state of the art on global migration governance, adding new perspectives and insights. The analysis of the influence of NSAs and local authorities is backed by an online survey of participating stakeholders, interviews with key actors, and hundreds of other primary sources obtained from the process. 

Regarding her findings, Dr Schweiger stated: "I find that the UN system’s willingness to onboard NSAs was key to creating the GCM as it stands today. While I found little direct influence from NSAs during the negotiations, the first draft of the GCM was very much informed by their input. Local authorities, still new to the global stage, made the case for their further inclusion in global migration governance."


About the speaker:

Raphaela Schweiger is a political scientist, focusing on international relations and global governance. She holds a doctorate from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Raphaela is the Director of the Migration Program at the Robert Bosch Stiftung where she leads on global migration governance, climate mobility, the protection of refugees and migrants, cities and the intersection between technological change and migration. She serves as the Chair of the European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM), the largest philanthropic collaborative on the issue in Europe. She is a 2023 Yale World Fellow.