On Wednesday 2 April, Dr. Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian, a Venezuelan-American citizen and Director, Department of Social Inclusion of the Secretariat for Access to Rights and Equity at the Organization of American States, will speak to us on “Migration, Asylum and Forced Displacement in the Americas: Main Dynamics and the Role of the Organization of American States (OAS).”

Forced displacement in Latin America and the Caribbean has reached record levels, with over 21 million people displaced by the end of 2022, driven by factors like violence, insecurity, and the Venezuelan crisis, representing one in five displaced people worldwide in the region. Forced displacement in the Americas requires regional cooperation, sustainable solutions and protection for vulnerable groups.

Dr. Muñoz-Pogossian is responsible for directing the work of the OAS in matters of social inclusion and access to human rights with special consideration for populations in vulnerable situations. She has edited, published and co-authored several articles and volumes on issues of Latin American reality. She is also a founding member and coordinator of the Network of Latin American Female Political Scientist’s “#NoSinMujeres,” a project that seeks to promote, make visible and empower the work of women dedicated to Latin American Political Science.

She is a regular columnist for “El Nacional” and “Caracas Chronicles,” as well as a guest columnist in various regional media. She is also a 2021 Fellow of the Fisher Family Fellowship on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law at Stanford University, and a Senior Associate (Non-Resident) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC. In 2024, she was named one of “Apolitical”‘s 50 Gender Equality Gamechangers: a list that recognizes public servants from across the world who are helping to push gender-equitable policies to the top of local and national government priorities.

Dr. Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of South Florida and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Florida International University.

You can make your dinner reservations at https://icannapolis.org/dinner-reservation.    Please reserve as soon as possible.

I look forward to seeing you at 6:00 pm on April 2 at the Double Tree Hotel.