Regional Responses to the Crises in Latin America and the Caribbean

Since 2020, La Coordinadora Regional de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales (CRIES) and the Stanley Center, co-organizers of the Latin American and Caribbean Civil Society Forum for the Prevention of Mass Atrocities (Cúcuta Forum), have appreciated connecting with forum members remotely, striving to provide a place where members of civil society organizations and academics could discuss shared challenges and innovations as the COVID-19 pandemic developed. Together we strengthened our virtual toolkits, learned from your contributions, and published policy briefs promoting a greater understanding of areas of risk and opportunities for building resilience across the region. 

We know, in many cases, the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing trends, but it also created new challenges related to human rights, the protection of civic spaces, and violence prevention at the regional level. We also know members of the Cúcuta Forum are well placed to understand and address the challenges. 

With these experiences in mind, we are looking forward to the opportunity to gather in person to reconnect with forum members and generate recommendations around the themes of the reduction of civic spaces, migration and forced displacement, challenges to resilience in Central America, and open source tools for human rights analysis. Building on past sessions, we will also discuss the identity of the Cúcuta Forum and how to strengthen future collaboration and leadership across the group.