At the 83rd ordinary session of the Central American Social Integration Council (CIS) held in Santo Domingo, a key leadership transition and landmark institutional planning decision have advanced regional social cooperation across Central America. The Dominican Republic formally completed its six-month tenure holding the bloc’s Pro Tempore Presidency and officially handed over the leadership role to Belize during the gathering.
Geanilda Vásquez, general coordinator of the Dominican Republic’s Social Policy Coordination Cabinet, led the handover ceremony on behalf of her country, which had held the rotating presidency from January to June 2026. She formally passed the ceremonial and operational leadership of the council to Thea García Ramírez, the official representative of Belize to CIS.
During its time at the helm of the regional body, the Dominican Republic prioritized and advanced a suite of cross-border initiatives centered on five core priorities: building adaptive social protection frameworks that can respond to shifting regional challenges, strengthening accessible and inclusive care systems across member states, improving collective food security, fostering a shared regional culture of peace, and boosting coordinated preparedness for climate-related disasters and disruptions.
After accepting the presidency, Belize’s delegation pledged to build on the progress made by the Dominican Republic, outlining its commitment to pushing forward the shared regional social agenda through three key approaches: deepening high-level political dialogue between member states, expanding the use of data-driven, evidence-based public policy design across the bloc, and cultivating more robust cross-border cooperation between all participating nations.
Beyond the leadership transition, the 83rd ordinary meeting delivered a range of other key outcomes for the bloc. Council members conducted a comprehensive review of institutional progress delivered by the Secretariat for Central American Social Integration (SISCA), the council’s administrative and operational body, and formally approved SISCA’s three-year Institutional Strategic Plan covering 2027 to 2029. Attendees also held in-depth discussions on the far-reaching social and economic impacts of the El Niño climate phenomenon across the region, conducted a detailed review of El Salvador’s recently implemented National Care System as a case study for regional policy, and adopted a new set of coordinated measures designed to strengthen cross-national collaboration on social policy alignment and sustainable development goals.