The Americas region will strive to position UNHCR as an action oriented organization that is on the front line to promote persons of concern’s access to protection, solutions and prevention across the entire spectrum of forced displacement as well as promote the protection and solutions achievements in the region.

Regional priorities include:

• Reinforcing monitoring and protection networks in border areas and at regional level
• Galvanizing support for the inclusion of refugees, IDPs and stateless persons in national systems
• Diversifying and innovative partnerships with traditional and non-traditional stakeholders, including strategic alliances with regional forums
• Moving decisively towards the first region to eradicate statelessness, and successfully pilot the CRRF and consolidate regional opportunities offered by the BPA framework
• Advancing its advocacy to enhance access to and enjoyment of international protection and solutions – in AGD sensitive manner
• Redoubling its efforts to enhance visibility of the work of governments, civil society and UNHCR’s partners
• Enhancing communications of the Americas with a wider reach at regional and global levels

Director: Renata Dubini

Deputy Director: Isabel Márquez

Protection Support Unit:  provides support for the design and implementation of protection strategies. Head of unit: Alexandra Pamela McDowall

Policy Unit:  covers policy and inter-agency matters. Contact: Mariana Meyer

External Relations Officer: develops information/communication/reporting products to advance advocacy, protection and operation priorities and acts as a focal point for donor relations, public information and private sector fundraising: Elisabet Diaz

Operation management: main operations entry point with all technical divisions at HQ. They monitor field activities, ensure coherence, provide support and guidance as relevant.

• Senior Desk Officer for North America, Central America and the Caribbean (RO Panama, (Nicaraguas, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba) BO Mexico, BO Canada) - Christian Carrillo
• Senior Desk Officer for Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru - Soo-Eun Chae
• Senior Desk Officer for (RO Argentina, Brazil, USA, Caribbean, Guyana & Suriname) – Florent Marty

Resource Management Unit (RMU): manages all resource requirements (financial, material, human), planning and implementation of programmes and guides oversight, enterprise risk management and the analytical review of operations region-wide, including for the Annual Programme Review. Senior Resource Manager: Jorge Holly

Regional Legal Unit (based in Costa Rica):  technical and legal service provider of the Americas Bureau to provide support to all field offices in the Americas, particularly in the fields of asylum/migration, refugee status determination (RSD), sexual and gender-based violence and child protection (SGBV-CP), statelessness, solutions and registration. Focal Point: Alexandra Pamela McDowall. Head of Unit: Juan Carlos Murillo

Regional Communications Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean (based in Mexico):  dedicated multifunctional team that implements the Regional Communications Strategy, takes the lead on campaigns, provides support to operations on visibility matters and supports the production of materials used for advocacy and resource mobilization purposes. Regional Communications Hub Manager: Maria Rubi

Regional Coordinator for the Venezuela situation:  (based in Panama) appointed by the HC to ensure a strong overarching vision and alignment across the region, including in the exercise of UNHCR coordination responsibilities through the regional platform established together with IOM. Operations included in the Venezuela situation currently are: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and other countries in the Southern Caribbean, and Venezuela. Regional Coordinator for the Venezuela situation: Jose Samaniego