In recent years, Latin America has experienced an increase in unplanned migration flows and their level of complexity. Around five million Venezuelan migrants are currently in other Latin America and the Caribbean countries; simultaneously, unplanned migration flows in Central America and Mexico are increasing, made up of nationals from Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela.

This new reality for the region has demanded resilience, flexibility, and the initial adoption of humanitarian measures by governments and other stakeholders. However, as time has gone by, the response has required a progressive shift toward the promotion of socio-economic integration measures targeting both migrant population and host communities. COVID-19, soaring inequalities and the increase of xenophobia and discrimination have rendered this shift particularly urgent.

The lessons learned and promising practices from Latin America could be of use to other regions that face unplanned migration flows. They are part of the acquired savoir faire of UN Member States leading to the achievement of the Global Compact on Migration (GCM) goals 6, 18, 19 y 22.

In this framework, civil society federation Coalition for Venezuela (CVE), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have joined forces to propose a virtual Side Event during the IMRF, which will provide an opportunity to hear from key Latin American players about lessons learned along the way, which may be relevant to human mobility situations that other world regions are currently experiencing.