Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras debut their IOMX communication for development campaigns in August

In August 2019, Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras will present their campaigns “Migrar informados” (“Migrating informed”), “Ponele plan a tu vida” (“Plan your life”), and “Echale ganas” (“Go for it”) which have been created through participatory communication for development processes.  These campaigns were developed based on the results of over 1,500 interviews, coordination spaces with over 70 local partners, and participatory validation by the target audience.

“These are not only communication campaigns, they are the result of a valuable participative, community, and capacity-building process. The focus has always been on understanding the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the target audience in order to promote real social change, through a set of creative, digital tools that are also community-focused and personalized,” stated Tatiana Chacón Salazar, Communication for Development Specialist for IOM.

In Mexico, the results showed that 97% of migrants in transit would make a great effort to obtain the documents to regularize their residence in the country, but 59% do not know which documents they need. Additionally, 49% of people mentioned not knowing where to look for information about migrating regularly.

In response to these needs, the campaign “Migrar Informados” in Mexico aims to raise awareness among Central American migrants in transit about means of migration regularization in Mexico and its benefits. The campaign will debut with a series of videos called “Las verdades de un impostor” (“Signs of an impostor”) with participation from actor Guillermo Esquivias.

In Guatemala, the initial research showed that a large proportion of people would make an effort to obtain documents to migrate regularly, and that over 60% would visit an information center.  Additionally, although the majority was not aware of opportunities for development, education, employment, and entrepreneurship in their communities, over 59% of people would be willing to get involved in these opportunities as an alternative to irregular migration.

The goal of the campaigns “Ponele plan a tu vida” in Honduras and “Echale ganas” in Guatemala is for young people to reflect on their life plans, and consider alternatives to irregular migration, such as regular migration and local development opportunities.

 As part of “Ponele plan a tu vida,” a videoclip called “Derribando muros” (“Breaking down walls”) will be released, featuring a rap based on true stories of young people from Cofradía, San Pedro Sula. The videoclip will include the participation of the young singers Mayki Graff and Zetha Urban. 

For its part, in Guatemala, “Echale ganas” will present various videos. The main feature will be “Mi Camino” (“My Journey”), which shows short stories about young people who are overcoming obstacles to build their futures. All participants in the videos are young people who are already part of the local opportunities that are being highlighted in the campaign.

These campaigns are being supported at the local level by a network of information points, which are different organizations and institutions trained by IOM and government counterparts. They will be able to provide personalized information about regular migration and/or local development opportunities.

Information about these campaigns is available at https://migrantinfo.iom.int/es [Spanish only], and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as @enlacolmena.

For more information, contact Tatiana Chacón, Communication for Development Specialist of the Regional Migration Program: Mesoamerica - The Caribbean: tchacon@iom.int