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Cochabamba (Agenzia Fides) – The Tenth (X) South American Conference on Migration (XCSM) will analyze the South American Human Development Plan for Migration. The event will take place in the city of Tiquipaya, in Cochabamba, October 25 and 26, as Bolivia takes over the presidency of the 2010 management of the South American Conference on Migration.
The main topics on the agenda for the XCSM are: the Declaration of principles and guidelines of the CSM, the South American Human Development Plan for Migration, relations with the UNASUR (Unión de Naciones Suramericanas), proposals for the Global Forum (to be held in Puerto Vallarta, November 2010). Besides opening up spaces for civil society participation in the discussions of the CSM on migration, environment and climate change, they will also choose the place of the XI Conference.
On Monday, October 25, the opening ceremony includes a ritual act and the intervention of the representative of the Delegation of Ecuador, Leonardo Carrion, president pro tempore of the Conference, who will pass the baton to Bolivia. There will also be a presentation of the Director-General of IOM, Laura Thompson, and officially inaugurating the event will be the Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca Céspedes.
The South American Conference on Migration is a regional body for dialogue and consultation on migration. Participating countries are, for the Southern Cone: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, the Andean region: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, as well as Guyana and Suriname. The problem of migration in Bolivia is closely followed by the Catholic Church. In June 2008, the Bishops of Bolivia, along with those of Brazil, organized the X Meeting of Bishops of the Brazil-Bolivia Border, in the city of Guajara Mirin (Brazil), to treat the drug trafficking-migration problem that has become increasingly complex.
In Bolivia, there is an internal migration that affects two million people. One in five Bolivians is an immigrant, according to the World Human Development Report 2009 of the United Nations Program for Development (UNDP).
Over the past 30 years, Bolivia has gone from a predominantly rural society (64%) to an urban society, with 62% of people now living in cities. 48% of immigrants are between 15 and 29 years of age, three out of four internal migrants are of working age, 81% speak two languages (Castilian and one native language), and about 60% of migrants have a secondary education, the report said. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 23/10/2010)
