Regional E-Course on Migrant Women promoted the active participation of consular staff in RCM Member States

 
5 January, 2018

The Pro-Tempore Presidency of the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM), held by El Salvador until November 2017, and the UN Migration Agency, implemented an 8-week virtual course on International Law, Assistance and Protection of Migrant Women. This initiative benefited more than 300 officers in the region, mostly staff from Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Consulates, as well as other state institutions and civil society organizations related to migration governance, such as migration directorates and institutes. Among them, 81 were able to complete the course on time and obtain their certificate.

Migrant women account for 48% of international migrants globally, approximately reaching 123 million women. This tendency is not foreign to the Mesoamerica region, giving the place to the need to provide staff in charge of assisting national abroad with the tools necessary to provide gender-sensitive migration services.

''The course is really interesting, it allows us to see the reality of many women that journey across the world in search of a better future for their family, withstanding all kinds of adversities''; ''it is a pleasure to start this training process with you, thanks to IOM and its timely actions that seek to dignify migrants, and in this case migrant women and their human rights'' were some of the comments of registered participants.

The course was developed on IOM's Virtual Learning Platform on Migration, with the objective of generating learning and reflection environments for officers. The course allowed them to learn about regional legislation, while also offering detailed information about the national legislation and the operative frameworks and programs that protect and assist migrant women in the member countries of the RCM.

This joint initiative of the Pro-Tempore Presidency of the RCM and IOM also offered the participants the opportunity to share doubts, comments, best practices and real cases in discussion forums. Likewise, two webinars were implemented and served as direct communication platform between the students and experts in the matter. During these session interesting questions gave place to discussions about the existent tools and best practices to guarantee the effective protection of migrant women in the region.

This initiative was possible thanks to the Mesoamerica Program of IOM, financed by the Department of State of the United States.