African Intermediary Cities as Actors and Partners in Urban Migration Governance (Saint-Louis, Senegal)
With a population of approximately 300,000, the Senegalese city of Saint serves as a point of arrival, transit, residence, destination, and return for a wide range of mobile populations. While Saint Louis' strategic location on the Atlantic coast attracts migrants seeking socio-economic opportunities, climate-related stressors and inadequate access to housing and social services challenge integration and local responses to migration. To gain an overview of activities, partnerships and cooperation gaps, the Equal Partnerships project developed participatory field research with the city of Saint Louis in February and March 2023 and facilitated a local workshop. The stakeholder mapping shows that a wide range of local, national and international actors are addressing migration and displacement in Saint Louis, with cooperation focused mainly on local climate-driven displacement and child protection. Significant gaps in collaboration remain on international migration issues.
