Ecuador - IOM and the Government of Ecuador through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, the National Council for Equal Human Mobility, the Council for Intergenerational Equality, and the Technical Secretariat for International Cooperation (SETECI) yesterday signed a cooperation agreement in Quito.

The agreement, signed by IOM’s Director General William Lacy Swing and Ecuadorian Vice Minister of Human Mobility Esther Cuesta, coincides with the signing by UN member states of the New Urban Agenda within the framework of Habitat III, the UN Conference on Sustainable Housing and Urban Development.

It calls for the establishment of local, national, regional and global alliances and was signed with the aim of achieving the New Urban Agenda goals. These include full respect for the human rights of refugees, displaced people, and migrants, regardless of their migratory status (Article 28).

The agreement also calls for cooperation to deliver on the commitments enshrined in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, the National Development Plan and the Ecuadorian National Equality Agenda.

It envisages the development and implementation of programs that will promote inclusion of migrants in cities, and local and national policies that will diminish xenophobia and discrimination.

“This agreement will strengthen the Ecuadorian Government’s work to facilitate human mobility and put into practice humane mobility policies,” said Vice Minister Cuesta (Watch video of Minister Cuesta at the signing- Spanish).

IOM Director General William Lacy Swing said: “This agreement is important because it will allow us to start implementing immediately Article 28 of the New Urban Agenda. It is the first agreement IOM has signed since becoming a UN Agency.” (Watch video of Ambassador Swing at the signing)

The agreement promotes the active participation of migrants in urban development policies. This includes mechanisms to engage with migrant groups and associations.

Finally, the agreement aims to strengthen inter-institutional capacity and cooperation at a national, provincial and local level.

This will improve data collection, mapping and information sharing regarding population, ethnicity and migratory status. All of these are key elements of well-informed migration policies.

For further information, please contact Juliana Quintero at the IOM Regional Office in Buenos Aires, Tel. + 54.1132488134, Email: juquintero@iom.int