The Mesoamerica Program supports efforts made by the Workgroup on Comprehensive Protection for Children in San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Since March 2017, the Mesoamerica Program has had a permanent presence through a local partner, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras’ second-biggest city and an area characterized by having high migratory flows.
Information Hubs Expand their Reach to Border Zone Schools and Institutions
There are now 10 information hubs operating in the Mesoamerican region with the support of the IOM, with one opening last month in Chinandega, Nicaragua. The Mesoamerica Program, together with the national and local authorities of each country, has established these posts in the border areas of Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Mexico. They provided personalized information to about 2,000 vulnerable migrants in 2016 alone.
Completion of the 2017 Specialized Course on Migrant Children in the Region
More than 300 government officials (from migration services, institutes for children and adolescents, consulates, the police and elsewhere) and civil society organizations in Mesoamerica successfully completed the Specialized Course on Migrant Children, developed by IOM, between April and June 2017.
IOM initiates workshops in the region to include measures against trafficking in persons in emergency responses
The International Organization for Migration organized in Nicaragua, with the authorities of the Coalition against Trafficking in Persons of the municipality of Chinandega, a workshop for the strengthening of capacities to prevent cases of trafficking in persons in emergency contexts.
Voluntary Return Program: A mother and three daughters return to Costa Rica
Three girls and their mother, a family of Costa Rican and Nicaraguan origin, were able to return to Costa Rica after living during more than a year in Chile in precarious conditions.
“Before taking the first step, inform yourself”: Communities in Mesoamerica act for a regular and safe migration
Community leaders in Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica, with IOM and community art groups, worked together to offer the people from territories with high rates of migration, a series of awareness-raising activities on the risks associated with irregular migration.
IOM, civil society and governments of Mesoamerica discusses the challenges to protect LGBTI Migrants
More than 50 LGBTI activists, government officers, and representatives from non-governmental organizations from the seven countries in Mesoamerica met on from the 13th to 15th of June in Guatemala to strengthen their capacities and discuss joint strategies for the defense and promotion of the human rights of migrant lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans populations.
El Salvador highlights the achievements reached with the support of the Mesoamerica Program
The modernization of migration management through a new law project; the development of manuals and protocols for the attention of migrant children and adolescents; a pilot project to provide identification cards to children and adolescents who live in border communities; and the provision of first-aid kits to migrants are some of the accomplishments highlighted by the Salvadorian Authorities, thanks to the support of the Mesoamerica Program.
Honduras and Guatemala Agree on collaborative actions in the borders to assist migrants
On the 5th of May, representatives from governmental institutions and non-governmental organizations from Honduras and Guatemala, linked to migratory issues, met in the municipality of Puerto Barrios, Department of Izabal, Guatemala, to identify the strengths and challenges of the actions implemented in the border between both countries, and explore possible areas of collaboration at the local and cross-border level.
Youth in Mesoamerica produce radio messages about safe migration
Why is making radio still important in our region? This is one of the questions with which the Mesoamerica Program personnel initiate the communication workshops they have been imparting in the region since this past April.