Latin America and the Caribbean mark the 40th anniversary of the Cartagena Declaration with renewed commitments to solidarity and cooperation

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GENEVA – In the context of the second Global Refugee Forum, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have agreed to move forward with a new regional strategy that focuses on solutions to the humanitarian and protection challenges faced by refugees, as well as displaced and stateless people.

The first event to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees was held in Geneva and convened by Chile, Brazil, and Colombia. During the event, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean committed to creating a roadmap to strengthen the humanitarian response to refugees, displaced, and stateless people in countries of origin, transit, and destination over the next decade. Consultations to adopt a new action plan will be conducted in 2024. Chile will lead the consultations, which will include the participation of governments, international organizations, civil society, local communities, the private sector, financial and development institutions, as well as refugees, and displaced and stateless people.

“Chile is honored to lead the Cartagena+40 Process in 2024, with the aim to move forward with a renewed commitment to protection, durable solutions, and also people who could be displaced by disasters”, highlighted the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alberto Van Kaveren Stork. 

Adopted in 1984, the Cartagena Declaration marked a new milestone in the generous tradition of solidarity, asylum, and cooperation in the Americas, as it not only broadened the definition of ‘refugee’, but it also inaugurated the Cartagena Process, a space for regional reflection that fosters coordination to offer concrete, pragmatic, and effective responses to shifting dynamics and needs.

On the historical importance of the Cartagena Process, the Undersecretary of the Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Ambassador Joel Hernández García, stressed that “the Cartagena Process has provided a progressive and cutting-edge regional framework that has guided Latin America and the Caribbean in regards to international protection for four decades.”

Every ten years, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean gather to adopt a new action plan that will guide their humanitarian response over the following decade. During today’s meeting, Brazil presented its final report on the implementation of the 2014 Brazil Plan of Action, which guided the region over the course of a decade when the scale of displacement changed radically. The report details concrete progress in strengthening asylum systems and socioeconomic integration policy, as well as preventing and ending statelessness through regional cooperation.

“Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean made progress based on national contexts and priorities. Although the challenges faced were not always the same, the capacity to adapt and the resolve to find innovative solutions were constant,” asserted Ambassador Maria Laura da Rocha, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil.

In his intervention, Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, emphasized that the region should feel proud for the exemplary and pioneering nature of the Cartagena Process, which he said, “is a source of inspiration to adopt new responses based on current and future challenges.”

Colombia, one of the co-convenors of the second Global Refugee Forum, announced a commitment to adopt a new Declaration and Plan of Action in 2024. This pledge is a meaningful contribution by Latin America and the Caribbean to the second Global Refugee Forum, being held by UNHCR in Geneva.

 “We believe that this pledge – which is entirely humanitarian and apolitical – will serve to address the diverse challenges faced by our peoples. It is also based on solidarity and shared responsibility. This effort consolidates Latin America and the Caribbean as a unified host region that offers protection, and will no doubt set an example for the world at large of cooperation and coordination,” declared Francia Elena Márquez Mina, Vice President of Colombia.

As the event concluded, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, encouraged countries in the region, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to continue protecting human rights while also identifying durable solutions for refugees, as well as displaced and stateless people in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

For further information, please contact:

• In Panama: Luiz Fernando Godinho, UNHCR, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, [email protected]    +507 6356 0074