Chile -The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Heraldo Muñoz Valenzuela and the IOM Regional Director for South America, Diego Beltrand, signed an agreement through which IOM cooperates with the Government of Chile to make progress in the implementation of the programme "Towards a migration policy in Chile" in order to contribute in the design and development of its migration policy.

The joint agenda from the signing of this agreement reaffirms the areas of cooperation between the Chilean government and IOM which were agreed in previous years and have been ratified and updated regularly. The agreement will run for four years and the Government of Chile will provide an annual voluntary contribution for the implementation of the programme.

The joint agenda includes areas such guidelines and activities on policy, regulatory and institutional migration, links to the nationals living abroad and return, information and statistics on international migration, south-south cooperation for development, migration, environment and climate change as well as migration and health, among others.

The agreement also confirms the government's interest in working for a migration policy based on the promotion of international instruments ratified by Chile, referred to Human Rights and the rights of migrants, in addition to the principles of immigration policy defined in the South American Conference Migration (CSM).

In this sense, the agreement will boost the actions that the Government of Chile will implement as Pro Tempore President of the CSM, a role that the Government will assume after the next Inter-sessional Meeting of the CSM to be held in June this year.

During the signing of the agreement, Diego Beltrand thanked the Government of Chile for its confidence in IOM and highlighted its determination to consolidate a migration policy with a focus on human rights.

Meanwhile, the Minister expressed the Government's intentions to modernize the migration policy.

Both the Minister and the IOM Regional Director agreed on the need of including the migration topic in the Post -2015 Development Agenda.

The joint agenda under this agreement will take place through the IOM Mission in Chile, headed by Norberto Girón, with the support of the IOM Regional Office for South America, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

For further information please contact: Marina Esponda, IOM Chile; Tel: +56-2 29 633710, Email:mesponda@iom.int