The Venezuelan government, in cooperation with IOM in its role of Technical Secretariat, is hosting the Seventh South American Conference in Caracas.

The two-day conference ending today has brought together officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior, and Justice and representatives responsible for migration affairs from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela, as well as representatives from international and civil society organizations.

This year's Conference is focusing on migration and development with heads of delegations discussing the input of South American countries to the upcoming International Forum on Migration and Development that will be held in Brussels from 9 to 11 July.

Participants are also discussing common migration challenges and actions that need to be taken in areas such as migration and development, upholding the human rights of migrants, countering human smuggling and trafficking and promoting the positive contribution of migrants and minimizing the negative impacts of migration.

The South American Conference on Migration, the first of which took place in Lima in 1999, is a regional process ensuring regional access to international mainstream mechanisms for dialogue and agreement on world migration issues.

"The fact that these countries have been meeting to discuss migration issues for the past seven years confirms the resolve and commitment of these governments and provides an opportunity for the South American Conference on Migration to position itself as the political entity charged with building a regional consensus on migration issues. This can then be presented at international fora, such as the upcoming Global Forum in Brussels," said Eugenio Ambrosi, IOM Regional Representative for the Southern Cone.

The final "Declaration of Principles and the Caracas Declaration" will be signed today at the closure of the conference.

For more information contact

Jorge Gurrieri
Technical Secretariat of the South American Conference on Migration
Tel: +5411 4815-5194/5
Email: jgurrieri@iom.int