The project “Facilitating the Labor Inclusion of the Population Applying for Refugee Status and Refugees in Guatemala” is financed by the MIRPS Fund. 

According to the ILO, 75% of the employed population is in informal employment (ILO, 2020). Likewise, coupled with the impact that health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic had on immediate consumption on which the informal sector commonly depends, the need to generate decent employment in Guatemala worsened. Added to this are the nature disasters in the region, which have directly affected the host communities and the population seeking refugee status. 

Therefore, it is considered of utmost importance to prioritize investments that promote access to the labor market and expand opportunities for inclusion in the private sector, especially within the framework of the socioeconomic integration of the population requesting refugee status and refugees.  

In this sense, through the execution of this project it is intended to generate the conditions to facilitate the socioeconomic inclusion of the population requesting refugee status, through the improvement in the efficiency and processing of the Electronic Platform of Work Permits for Foreigners (PEX), as well as the modernization of the process of obtaining work permits and thereby expanding access to their authorization at a decentralized level. Likewise, access will be enabled for people seeking refugee status and refugees to employment platforms through the Municipal Single Windows (VUMES). 

The execution of this project is expected to benefit the entire population seeking refugee status with support needs in the labor inclusion process.