El Salvador

The Specialized Diploma for the Governance of Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration for Municipalities began in El Salvador. A joint effort with the Salvadoran Institute of Municipal Development (ISDEM), it seeks to strengthen the capacities of municipal authorities and public employees to support the construction of public policies, programs or local initiatives that link migration and local development. 

As part of the efforts to protect the rights of migrants, the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM) launched a regional training programme focused on the protection and assistance of vulnerable migrants in conjunction with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), who in 2019 developed the Handbook on Protection and Assistance for Migrants Vulnerable to Violence, Exploitation and Abuse.

 El Salvador’s General Directorate for Migration (DGME) held the first day of the identification project for seasonal and cross-border workers and border inhabitants in the department of San Miguel, with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This initiative consists of providing cross-border or seasonal workers with identification cards to facilitate their regular, safe and orderly transit across the border between El Salvador and Honduras.

The second part of the technical exchange of practices on fair recruitment and labor protection of migrant workers was held the 24 May 2021, as part of the Regional Conference on Migration. The session was led by the International Labour Organization, jointly moderated with the International Organization of Migration, and gathered the participation of 61 participants from 11 RCM Member Countries’ representatives, private sector and civil society organizations, as well as observer agencies.  

A message transmitted in time can save someone’s life. With this premise, the Commission of Migration Authorities (OCAM) of the member countries of the Central America Integration System (SICA), in conjunction with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), developed a regional workshop on emergency and migratory crisis communication. Migration officials from the areas of communication, press, migration control, and care for migrants from 8 different OCAM member countries, participated in a three-day workshop (May 18, 19, and 20) on the essential role of communication in these issues.  

The Government of Mexico, as Pro-Tempore Chair of the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM), with the support from IOM and ILO promoted an exchange to support the design, implementation and follow-up of labour migration mechanisms within the framework of this multilateral forum. The exchange is the first part of the "Conversation for the exchange of good practices in the recruitment and labour protection of migrants".

Mobility restrictions due to covid-19 have had a direct effect on migratory flows, due to border closures and quarantine measures, as well as isolation and social distancing. For this reason, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) organized the II Exchange of Experiences between Local and Cross-border Networks of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

In recent months there has been a substantial increase in migration flows from Central America to North America, making it increasingly necessary to expand the coverage of secure information channels. Chief among these are the migration information hubs, which in the first quarter of 2021 alone, reported to IOM to have assisted more than 12,000 people in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.