November 30, 2021
The member countries of the Comprehensive Regional Protection & Solutions Framework (MIRPS, for its acronym in Spanish) -Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Panama- agreed today to coordinate regional and national responses aimed at mitigating the root causes of forced displacement, providing effective responses to the protection needs of the displaced population, asylum seekers, refugees and returnees in need of protection, as well as the search for durable solutions. This agreement was embodied in the Declaration of the City of La Antigua Guatemala, approved by acclamation at the IV Annual Meeting of the MIRPS, which took place on November 30, 2021 in the City of La Antigua Guatemala.
MIRPS member countries agreed to develop solutions and implement specific actions, such as:
- Implement actions that reflect the national and regional context to prevent displacement, taking into account its root causes, in collaboration with the international community, financial institutions, the private sector and civil society, using existing bilateral and multilateral mechanisms.
- Develop durable, dignified and sustainable solutions for displaced persons, asylum seekers, refugees, displaced persons and returnees with protection needs, in conjunction with host communities, aligning humanitarian assistance, processes, plans, policies, social, protection and national development programs, including measures aimed at integration, return, resettlement, reintegration, and socio-economic inclusion to increase their resilience.
The Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, emphasized that “the MIRPS has been consolidated as a regional mechanism to respond to the humanitarian and protection needs posed by forced displacement.” He also reaffirmed the OAS commitment to refugees, asylum seekers, forcibly displaced persons and their host communities.
During the meeting, the Fourth Annual Report of the MIRPS was presented, which documents the progress made in the implementation of the national action plans in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and Guatemala. The IV Meeting was organized by the Government of Guatemala, in its capacity as Pro-Tempore Presidency 2021. At the meeting, the Government of Honduras assumed the Pro-Tempore Presidency for 2022.
Through the MIRPS, seven Central American countries and Mexico are pioneers in the implementation of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) and a concrete contribution to the Global Compact on Refugees. In its fourth year of implementation, the MIRPS has established itself as a space to facilitate substantive dialogue among its member countries regarding the actions they take at the national and regional levels to address forced displacement, which affects more than one million people.
The OAS, through its Department of Social Inclusion, is part of the Technical Secretariat of the MIRPS, together with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).