Joint Migration and Development Initiative, JMDI Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) OUR BACKGROUND The Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) reflects the commitment of the United Nations, the European Commission and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to make migration work for development and to establish a comprehensive approach to migration at the local level. This joint effort, which has started in 2012, marks the start of a new migration and development agenda which aims to establish a sound management of migration at decentralized levels across regions in order to maximize its development impacts. OUR MISSION JMDI’s main objective is to bring the development agenda forward by giving local governments, migrants and local actors a central role in the larger debate of migration and development. The programme’s activities are geared towards sensitizing and mobilizing a wide range of actors in order to establish a framework that supports the mainstreaming of migration issues into local development planning. These goals are in line with the larger global trend of decentralization, and the JMDI seeks to reinforce the cooperation efforts at the local level so that local actors are empowered to make migration an enabler for local development. The JMDI has set out to specifically address the needs and raise the profile of local actors active in the field of migration and development through targeted activities and support.