The seven countries that form part of the Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework (MIRPS) for Central America and Mexico, a mechanism for solidarity and responsibility sharing, presented the progress made to address the forced displacement crisis in their region and defined priorities for the year ahead during the group’s third annual meeting.
Facing a growing number of people forced to flee in Central America and Mexico, MIRPS countries – Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama – took stock of the current context and identified much-needed policies at the national and regional levels to offer comprehensive solutions on protection, education, health, jobs and livelihoods to those forcibly displaced in the region.
Alexandra Hill, Minister of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, which holds the MIRPS Pro-tempore Presidency in 2020, reiterated the commitment made by El Salvador to include refugees and people forced to flee within response and assistance plans.
“All our efforts seek to benefit a highly vulnerable population that requires priority attention,” said Hill extending her gratitude to Member States for their support during El Salvador’s Presidency of the MIRPS.
Violence and persecution have forced nearly one million people in Central America to flee within or across the borders of their countries. These include some 833,000 people from northern Central America and an additional 108,000 from Nicaragua.
The root causes that have prompted this forced displacement crisis, coupled with the intrinsic challenges of local integration, have been severely exacerbated by the emergencies of COVID-19 and recent tropical storms that caused widespread damage.
“It is at times like these, of multiple crises and challenges in the protection and assistance to displaced people, that the MIRPS becomes a beacon of responsibility-sharing and a testimony of the fundamental role of regional cooperation,” said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees during the high-level meeting.
In this context, the MIRPS is well-placed as a political and operational instrument to respond to the critical humanitarian and development needs of hundreds of thousands of people, including those forced to flee and their host communities.
To face the challenges in the year ahead, MIRPS states have adopted the San Salvador Declaration as a testament to their commitment to continue working together in the response to forced displacement in Central America and Mexico. Among their renewed commitments is to advocate for the inclusion of displaced people and returnees with protection needs within the plans to recover from the economic devastation of COVID-19 and natural disasters.
Original source: UNHCR
