The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region is undergoing a profound transformation in its migration and displacement dynamics. In last September, 15^th Global Forum on Migration and Development took place in Colombia and it was a great opportunity to renew and promote UNDP´s 360° approach to human mobility and displacement where people on the move and their countries and communities of origin and destination could expand the benefits of human mobility building resilience and development.

Once primarily a region of emigration, LAC is now a major destination and transit zone for migrants and forcibly displaced populations. The region is no longer merely a point of departure—it is now a destination, a transit corridor, and a place of return. In 2024, there were 84 million internally displaced people worldwide, with Latin America and the Caribbean alone accounting for 20 million IDPs, representing 23% (almost a quarter) of the global total. The Region also faces multiple challenges related to increasing immigration including 6.8 million Venezuelans who have fled their country since 2015, with 85% settling in neighboring LAC nations. 1.4 million individuals were forced to return to Northern Central America between 2016 and 2024. Climate mobility is now a major driver of migration, with 2.1 million displacements in the Americas in 2024 alone. Brazil recorded 745,000 movements due to La Niña-induced rains, while Peru and Chile faced significant flood-related displacements. 

New migration dynamics have emerged, along with persistent negative perceptions of the migrant population, which continue to pose a significant challenge to social cohesion and development in the region.

These shifts demand a new lens—one that integrates humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding efforts to build resilience and foster inclusive growth. To match that changing landscape, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) response is rooted in the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) nexus, a framework that recognizes the interconnected nature of crises. Human mobility is not a temporary emergency; it is a structural phenomenon shaped by poverty, inequality, climate change, and governance gaps. Addressing it requires more than humanitarian relief; it demands long-term development strategies and peacebuilding efforts that foster resilience and inclusion, considering national and local contexts and needs. 

UNDP’s Integrated Response: Local Action with Regional Impact

The UNDP’s Regional Strategy on Human Mobility and Sustainable Development outlines ten strategic priorities, reinforced by recent policy analysis on how to consolidate opportunities offered by migration. For example, four of these have been central to our work:

• Strengthening Local Governance: In the Trifinio area in Guatemala, the UNDP trained community leaders and municipal officials to integrate human mobility into development planning. Strategic plans now include milestones for reintegration, remittance utilization, and social cohesion.
• Socioeconomic Integration of migrants: The INTEGRA initiative in Ecuador supported 12 local governments in promoting entrepreneurship and employment services for migrants and host communities, with a focus on women’s economic empowerment.
• Reintegration of Returnees: Through the Tri-national Response initiative, the UNDP in Honduras provided training and seed capital to 56 displaced women, fostering economic empowerment and linking humanitarian assistance with peacebuilding.
• Promoting Social Cohesion: The Banco Amable initiative implemented in Colombia mobilized migrants and locals as citizen volunteers to address community challenges, reduce xenophobia, and strengthen coexistence.

Lessons Learned 

UNDP’s experience across LAC reveals that resilience through human mobility is achievable when responses are locally grounded, gender-sensitive, data-informed, and regionally coordinated. Municipalities are pivotal actors in managing migration and displacement, and their empowerment through capacity-building and strategic planning yields sustainable outcomes. Gender-responsive programming ensures that women—often disproportionately affected—are not only protected but empowered as agents of change. Reliable data enables targeted interventions and effective monitoring, while cross-border cooperation fosters shared solutions to common challenges.

The Future Migration and Displacement Trends in LAC

The future of migration and displacement in LAC will be shaped by intensifying climate impacts, shifting geopolitical dynamics, and economic pressures. Climate mobility alone could displace up to 17 million people internally by 2050. The securitization of migration policies will redirect flows and create bottlenecks in transit countries. Caribbean nations are expected to see increased arrivals, including extracontinental migrants, as alternative destinations gain prominence. Forced returns will continue to strain local economies and public services, while remittances volatility may exacerbate vulnerabilities in dependent communities. Likewise, forced displacement will increase in the region around areas characterized by poverty, illicit economies, and weak state presence. These trends demand anticipatory governance and adaptive policy frameworks that are both locally grounded and regionally coordinated.

Addressing the full spectrum of human mobility challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean requires a multidimensional and coordinated response and strengthening coherence between humanitarian action, sustainable development, and peacebuilding in the development of strategies for displaced populations and migrants. Solutions must span six critical thematic areas: 

(1) strengthening institutional capacities of national and local authorities through strategic planning, training, and data systems; 

(2) promoting the socioeconomic reintegration of returnees via income-generation programs, financial inclusion, and private sector engagement; 

(3) leveraging remittances for personal and local development through financial education, entrepreneurship, and diaspora engagement; 

(4) maximizing the contributions of immigrants to national and local development through vocational training, employment facilitation, and regulatory reform; 

(5) fostering social cohesion and reducing xenophobia by promoting dialogue, awareness campaigns, and community support networks; and 

(6) integrating climate mobility into national adaptation strategies, including climate risk assessments and resilient infrastructure planning.