America agrees to promote development programs for migrants and refugees
The ministers and high authorities of social development of the Organization of American States (OAS) agreed this Friday in Guatemala to promote and promote plans and actions for migrants and refugees.
In the declaration of priorities in matters of social development, signed by the ministers, it is pointed out that these programs will be in accordance with the legislations, policies and priorities of the States, as well as their obligations and international standards.
This in order to generate an environment that allows them to have opportunities for their social and productive integration, including but not limited to access to education and accompaniment and highlighting their contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
In this final declaration of 28 points, the ministers commit themselves to continue promoting the "multidimensional" measurement of poverty and use this information to adapt public policies and move towards the development of "universal and integral systems" of social protection based on " human rights, the principles of universality, solidarity, equality, non-discrimination and equity ".
They also bet on strengthening regional efforts to achieve the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda, strengthen alliances to attend to groups in vulnerable situations and emphasize the coordination of social protection policies and mitigation and adaptation measures to climate change .
According to the text, the States, responsible for optimizing and strengthening their intersectoral efforts to reduce inequalities and strengthen human development, will facilitate access to credit and productive enterprises and guarantee health services, "quality and timely", improving learning and facilitating access to housing, water, electricity, telecommunications or sanitation.
The OAS countries, which recognize the value of "social assistance" programs in the eradication of hunger and child malnutrition, promised to promote the development of public policies and programs in an inclusive manner with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). ) to overcome poverty.
But in addition to this synergy, they will also seek to incorporate the gender perspective in social development policies, invite all members to improve the institutional capacities for generating "disaggregated" statistical data and instruct the Inter-American Committee on Social Development to strengthen the collaboration with other regional organizations.
Among them, he mentions the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the United Nations Development Program.
In this same sense, they also renew their "support" to strengthen the Inter-American Social Protection Network, as "the main mechanism of cooperation and hemispheric technical assistance," and instruct the formation of groups to implement the action plan also initialed in the framework of this meeting.
Under the motto "Overcoming multidimensional poverty and closing social equity gaps: towards an Inter-American Agenda for Social Development," the countries also approved strengthening capacities to face natural disasters, economic crises and the technological revolution and promote "the institutionalization of social development policies "to achieve continuity.
In this regard, they advocate specifically considering the needs of children living in poverty and ask to include the situations of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples and respect their rights.
