Argentina - IOM and the Latin American Social Security Organization (OISS by its Spanish acronym) have signed a cooperation agreement which will allow for closer collaboration regarding matters of common concern, including social  security and social protection for international migrants in the Ibero-American space.

The agreement was signed this week in Buenos Aires, Argentina, by IOM’s Regional Director for South America Diego Beltrand, and the Secretary-General of the OISS, Gina Magnolia Riaño Barón. IOM’s Regional Director for Central America, North America and the Caribbean, Marcelo Pisani, also took part in the signing.

The areas of cooperation included in the agreement relate to increasing the visibility and dissemination of information regarding the multilateral agreements which are supported by the OISS, in particular the Multilateral Agreement on Social Security of the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR) and the Ibero-American Multilateral Agreement on Social Security, which ensure the protection of migrant workers and their families.

The cooperation agreement will facilitate the participation of both agencies in activities of mutual interest, and promote training and capacity building on social security and migration-related issues to key actors, in particular, government officials from the region.

At the signing ceremony, Gina Magnolia Riaño Barón said: “Cooperation with IOM will help to give visibility to the multilateral conventions that guarantee the social protection of migrant workers and their families, and recognize the right of migrants to contribute and benefit from welfare payments based on the principle of equal treatment for nationals and foreigners.”

Diego Beltrand added: “With this agreement, IOM confirms its commitment to Ibero-American countries for the dissemination of information related to social rights to which migrants and their families have access, among others, the right to a pension." Beltrand stressed the importance of access to these rights through the implementation of the multilateral agreements on social protection.

The agreement acknowledges the existing cooperation between IOM, the Ibero-American system and the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed between the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) and IOM in 2006, to collaborate on issues of mutual interest, including migration linked to development, remittances and labour migration.

The OISS is an international organization, of a technical and specialized nature, which aims to promote the economic and social welfare of Latin American countries and those that are linked by the Spanish and Portuguese language, through coordination, exchange and sharing of best practices in social security, as well as social protection, including for migrant workers.

For further information, please contact Juliana Quintero at the IOM Regional Office in Buenos Aires, Tel. + (54) 11 5219 2033, Email: juquintero@iom.int