Diego Beltrand

Diego Beltrand was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1963. He has a background in law with a degree in State Law from the University of the Republic (UDELAR) in Montevideo; he holds a master's degree in International Relations from the Central American University of Nicaragua (UCA) and a master's degree in International Business and Policy Formulation from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (HEI) in Geneva, Switzerland. 

Mr. Beltrand joined IOM in 1997 and has subsequently served in various capacities in Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Switzerland and Argentina. Between 2012 to 2019, he  held the role of IOM Regional Director for South America. The Regional Office for South America supports and manages IOM activities in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. In this capacity, he also served in the Technical Secretariat of the South American Conference on Migration (CSM). 

In November 2019, he was appointed Special Envoy of the Director-General for the Regional Response to the Situation in Venezuela, based in Panama City. Mr. Beltrand is responsible for policy liaison, implementation, response monitoring and fundraising under the Regional Response Plan for Refugees and Migrants (RRRP), as well as other activities related to IOM's response. He also co-chairs the Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Platform with UNHCR. 

In addition, Mr. Beltrand accompanies and supports the Joint Special Representative (JSR) of IOM and UNHCR in the follow-up and provision of technical assistance to the Quito Process and its Declarations, the Plan of Action and roadmap adopted by participating countries, as well as to other processes led by governments, regional bodies such as Mercosur, Andean Community (CAN), Organization of American States (OAS), Central American Integration System (SICA) and other entities. Mr. Beltrand also assists the JSR in the preparation of reports for the high authorities of UNHCR-IOM and other UN agencies.