Refugee qualifications recognition: We need urgent reforms

The study, The Recognition of Qualifications for Refugees and Displaced Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean, offers targeted recommendations for policy-makers and competent authorities, laying the groundwork for inspiring reforms on the recognition of refugees’ and displaced persons’ qualifications in the region.

Across the world, higher education remains an aspiration for millions of young people forced to flee conflict, crisis or persecution. While 43% of the global population now accesses tertiary education, only 9% of refugee youth benefit from this opportunity. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the overall enrolment rate is 53%, but for refugees and displaced persons, that figure plunges to between 2% and 12% depending on the country.

This glaring gap is not merely a statistical imbalance. It represents wasted human potential, fractured professional pathways and diminished prospects for integration into host communities.

Recognition of prior learning and academic qualifications is the cornerstone for addressing this inequity. Without it, countless refugee doctors, teachers, engineers and students are locked out of the systems where they could contribute meaningfully.

A region transformed by displacement

Over the past decade, Latin America and the Caribbean have experienced an unprecedented intensification of human mobility. According to UNHCR, more than 7.7 million people have left Venezuela since 2015, with nearly seven million remaining in the region.

Central America and Mexico have also witnessed chronic displacement due to violence, political instability and new migration routes. Meanwhile, Haiti’s prolonged crisis continues to drive people into neighbouring countries, particularly in the Caribbean.

This transformation has turned a traditionally migrant-sending region into a destination and transit hub, putting new pressures on education systems often unprepared for the scale and urgency of the challenge.

UNESCO IESALC’s latest study maps out the realities of academic recognition across the region. It identifies structural obstacles that continue to block access: the lack of mechanisms allowing for recognition without verifiable documentation, rigid legal frameworks designed for ordinary migration rather than forced displacement, excessive administrative costs, digital and linguistic barriers, persistent gender inequalities and institutional capacity gaps.

Despite these barriers, the report also highlights promising innovations, offering scalable models that other countries can adapt to their specific contexts.

Colombia, for example, has emerged as a pioneer in the region through its policy of educational integration based on the principles of protection and non-discrimination, reflected in actions such as the Temporary Protection Permit and Inter-Agency Group on Mixed Migration Flows.

In Brazil, the Carolina Bori Platform has allowed refugees to submit applications for recognition through an online portal. At the same time, the Sérgio Vieira de Mello Chair has been instrumental in facilitating such processes.

Some public universities in countries like Argentina, Mexico and Brazil have started implementing flexible mechanisms for recognition using the principle of university autonomy.

The work of Uruguay’s Refugee Commission and Peru’s SUNEDU framework also points to good practices, while in the Caribbean, frameworks are slowly emerging.

Global and regional frameworks

The foundation for action is already laid in international instruments.

UNESCO’s Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education (2019) and the Buenos Aires Regional Convention (2019) explicitly call on their states parties to take feasible measures to recognise refugee and displaced persons’ qualifications, including in cases where partial studies, prior learning or qualifications acquired in another country cannot be proven by documentary evidence.

However, few countries from the region have ratified these conventions and turned their provisions into reality. Despite this, regional cooperation platforms such as the CINALC network of national information centres and RecoLATIN are actively engaging their members to work to translate commitments into operational solutions.

The timing could not be more urgent. UNHCR’s 15by30 Roadmap has set the global goal of raising refugee enrolment in higher education from 9% today to 15% by 2030. Achieving this target in Latin America and the Caribbean is impossible without systemic change in recognition procedures.

Clear roadmap

Our study provides a clear roadmap, with recommendations across different time horizons. These range from immediate actions such as simplifying requirements and lowering fees, to medium-term measures aimed at building institutional capacity and piloting recognition of prior learning, and, finally, long-term reforms that align national systems with the Buenos Aires and Global Conventions, also embedding digital platforms and fostering regional mutual recognition.

UNESCO is committed to supporting policy-makers and competent authorities in Latin America and the Caribbean in designing mechanisms for the recognition of qualifications of refugees and displaced persons, tailored to the regional context and applicable even in the absence of documentary evidence.

Alternative assessment methods, such as interviews, diagnostic tests and recognition of prior learning, are essential to ensure flexible recognition processes that uphold fairness, transparency and non-discrimination.

Recognition of refugees’ and displaced persons’ qualifications is not a technical afterthought. It is a question of rights, dignity and development. By enabling refugees and displaced people to resume their studies or professions, host countries not only honour their international commitments but also harness talent urgently needed for their own growth.

Latin America and the Caribbean have a proud tradition of solidarity and inclusion. An opportunity lies ahead to build on this legacy, connect national practices to regional and global standards, and ensure that no displaced person or refugee’s education is left behind.

Author: Gonzalo Baroni is the president of the Buenos Aires Recognition Convention and served as Uruguay’s national director for education between 2020 and 2025.