Migration management and the 2030 Agenda: local perspectives

Nicaragua - The Departmental Representation of the Governance Ministry in Chinandega, Nicaragua’s border department with Honduras, organized with the support of IOM a workshop on migration management and its links to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The activity was implemented for officers from the Departmental Committee against Trafficking in Persons and delegates from the Ministry of Governance from this department with the objective of strengthening the local capacities of the Ministry’s staff in relation to migration management while talking into account the objectives and goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. .

Participants conducted a joint analysis about the contributions of the Mesoamerica Program towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially Goal 10: Reduce Inequality within and among countries and its target 10.7;  “Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies”. Likewise, the Program`s contributions towards Goal 5: Gender Equality, were also taken into account. The Mesoamerica Program is financed by the Department of State of the United States of America and has as an objective to strengthen the capacities of governments in the region to implement strategies for migration to take place in humane, safe and orderly and regular conditions. In Nicaragua, IOM has implemented the Program since 2016 in municipalities of Somotillo and Chinandega in coordination with the Department Representations of Governance and local partners.

IOM’s Head of Office in Nicaragua, Paola Zepeda, mentioned that IOM, as the United Nations Agency for Migration, is contributing to the specific SDG targets related to migration, while also supporting intergovernmental negotiations related to the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, which will be adopted in 2018.

“Strengthening the capacities of public officers, in this case of the Ministry of Governance as it is the entity in charge of affairs related to migration management, is crucial to fulfill the SDGs, for which IOM is providing the necessary technical support”, said Zepeda.

In this country, 23 activities related to institutional strengthening were implemented, covering topics as the prevention of irregular migration, trafficking in persons, migration crisis management  and protection, among others; and reaching direct impact in the municipalities of Chinandega, Somotillo, Chichigalpa, Posolotega, Managua and Corinto.