• Date:  3/22/2018    Paragraphs: -

Environmental factors play an important role in increasing human vulnerability and driving migration and displacement. IOM is dedicated to supporting Latin American countries in their efforts to mitigate the risks of environmental and climate related stressors. In Argentina, attention was placed on capacity-building for disaster risk management in line with IOM’s strategy on migration, environment and climate change during 2017. In Peru, IOM joined the UN Evaluation and Disaster Coordination (UNDAC) team, in supporting of the Government of Peru, to assess the emergency caused by heavy rains, and mud- and landslides in several regions of the country in January of 2017. IOM deployed emergency staff in response to forest fires that have been affecting the central zone of Chile since mid-January, as part of the UN Evaluation and Disaster Coordination (UNDAC) team. In Bolivia, IOM also worked to raise awareness on migration and environmental practices and the relationship between migration and climate change. In this line, it was important to promote environmentally sound development in the country. IOM supported the Peruvian national government in including migration in national adaptation strategies on climate change. IOM provided special strengthening support to national stakeholders in El Salvador on the generation of information and evidence on human mobility and the displacement of vulnerable populations due to the effects of climate change.

• Date:  4/14/2014    Paragraphs: 3, 4

IOM plays an increasingly important role in Disaster Risk Management and Humanitarian Coordinated Response to displacement induced by natural disasters as global cluster lead for Camp Coordination and Camp.
IOM in the Americas has been working on 1)Developing models and in data collection on the cost and benefits of migration including displacement in partnership with IDMC. 2) Learning lessons from program implementation to develop evidence based policies for policy-makers. 3)Different advocacy exercises, including through the UN, to develop Mobility Related Indicators for the Implementation of the UN ACTION PLAN on Disaster Risk Reduction.

• Date:  4/14/2014    Paragraphs: 3

IOM's Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) intervention in Colombia is comprehensive and includes projects that address all phases of the migration management cycle, from the reduction of migratory pressures on vulnerable populations to the long-term stabilization of communities displaced and otherwise affected by disasters.
In order to support the capacities of the Colombian Government and civil society, IOM led several shelter coordination and management projects, training local authorities on the provision and management of temporary shelters, and distributed hygiene and sleeping kits to vulnerable families. IOM aimed at enhancing local and institutional preparedness, as well as directly managing the IOM has been working jointly with the National Ministry of Education on community stabilization through the improvement, reconstruction, relocation, rehabilitation and equipping of educational infrastructure in border regions, isolated areas or municipalities affected by natural disasters and conflict. These initiatives seek to reduce risk in some of the most vulnerable communities in the country.situation of populations displaced by the floods.

In addition, in 2012, the Organization led the shelter coordination and management project for the assistance program implemented jointly with the UN System and the Colombian Government.
IOM also supports the Colombian Government in the coordination and management of temporary shelters built to assist victims of the La Niña Phenomenon of 2010–2011. More info: https://www.iom.int/files/live/sites/iom/files/What-We-Do/docs/IOM-DRR-Compendium-2013-America.pdf

• Date:  6/21/2011    Paragraphs: 61

In Haiti, with teams of agricultural technicians and community members, IOM has supported the
construction of 81,000 meters of gabions and stone walls; the excavation of 90,000 meters of
micro-basins; and planted over 800,000 trees in the watersheds of Gonaives, Saint Marc and
Petit-Goave. The massive cultivation of trees and deep rooted grass species help to reinforce
barriers, trap water, and strengthen the soil.

Two days after the January 12th, 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti, the IOM, with the
United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), the Government of Haiti, and some
170 partner agencies, responded to the crisis by delivering some two million NFI to 200,000
families. IOM also coordinated and distributed 8,110 shelters for displaced population. Early
recovery efforts by IOM included rubble removal, rehabilitation of urban infrastructure including
health facilities to support those families that could return to their homes.

In 2010, with funding from the United Nation's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), IOM
supported and coordinated shelter and non-food items (NFI) delivery to 24,000 families in
Guatemala affected by tropical storm Agatha. The Organization also assisted the Government of
Chile in delivering 1,407 temporary shelters and shelter and hygiene kits to the victims of the
earthquake that hit the central and southern parts of the country. In Colombia, IOM provided
flood shelter to some 1,100 families and NFI to 5,500 persons affected by heavy rain and
flooding in the Pacific coastal region of the country.

• IOM's Website

• Date:  3/22/2018    Paragraphs: -

Environmental factors play an important role in increasing human vulnerability and driving migration and displacement. IOM is dedicated to supporting Latin American countries in their efforts to mitigate the risks of environmental and climate related stressors. In Argentina, attention was placed on capacity-building for disaster risk management in line with IOM’s strategy on migration, environment and climate change during 2017. In Peru, IOM joined the UN Evaluation and Disaster Coordination (UNDAC) team, in supporting of the Government of Peru, to assess the emergency caused by heavy rains, and mud- and landslides in several regions of the country in January of 2017. IOM deployed emergency staff in response to forest fires that have been affecting the central zone of Chile since mid-January, as part of the UN Evaluation and Disaster Coordination (UNDAC) team. In Bolivia, IOM also worked to raise awareness on migration and environmental practices and the relationship between migration and climate change. In this line, it was important to promote environmentally sound development in the country. IOM supported the Peruvian national government in including migration in national adaptation strategies on climate change. IOM provided special strengthening support to national stakeholders in El Salvador on the generation of information and evidence on human mobility and the displacement of vulnerable populations due to the effects of climate change.

• Date:  6/8/2016    Paragraphs: -

The Central American and the Caribbean region has been identified as one of the most vulnerable to climate change and its effects in the world.

IOM’s strategy on environmental migration is centre on:

a) Preventing forced migration resulting from environmental factors to the extent possible.
b) Providing assistance and protection to populations affected by climate change and seeking durable solutions to their situation.
c) Facilitating migration as an adaptation strategy to climate change.
d) Working together with stakeholders to increase communities’ resilience to underlying risk factors and expected changes in their natural environment
IOM as the global lead agency of the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster in situations of natural disasters is involved in camp management support and in strengthening the capacities of local and national authorities in the region for natural disasters emergency relief.

• Date:  6/8/2016    Paragraphs: -

Migrants and their families are particularly vulnerable to health inequities due to the conditions under which they migrate, as well as to their living and working conditions in the country of destination, transit and even upon return. In the Americas, there is a serious lack of information about the health of migrants and the psychosocial consequences for the families they left behind. To bridge this gap, IOM aims to strengthen knowledge to ensure evidence-based programming and policy development, and promote equitable access to migrant-friendly comprehensive health-care services throughout the migration process. IOM does this through assessments of the health vulnerabilities of irregular migrants, returnees and families fragmented by migration, including their access to social services, the specific risks related to mobility and a mapping of governments’ responses to address these vulnerabilities.

Guided by the World Health Assembly Resolution on the Health of Migrants (WHA61.17), IOM is conducting a regional situational analysis of the health and well-being needs and vulnerabilities of migrants, the families they left behind and their host communities. The results of this analysis will serve as the basis for a multi-sectorial consultation process organized by IOM and selected governments and partners to draft a regional migration health framework to promote migrant-inclusive health policies and implement migrant-sensitive services. By doing this, IOM promotes the physical, mental and social well-being of migrants and thus encourages the social and economic development of migrants and that of their receiving communities.

• IOM's Website

• Date:  3/16/2018    Paragraphs: -

IOM is committed to promoting the orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration
and mobility of people in Latin America. This is represented in IOM’s objectives that include: advancing the socioeconomic well-being of migrants and society, effectively addressing the mobility dimensions of crises, and ensuring that migration takes place in a safe, orderly and dignified manner. Taken together, these objectives ensure that migration is governed in an integrated and holistic way, responding to the need to consider mobile categories of people and address their needs for assistance in the event of an emergency, building resilience of individuals and communities, as well as ensuring opportunities for the economic and social health of the State. In 2017, IOM designed a data and knowledge concept for the Latin America region that builds on its existing knowledge base, including the Latin American Programme of Technical Cooperation on Migration, the International Migration Inter-American Course, the South American Observatory on Migration, the flagship series of publications Cuadernos Migratorios and the Information Centre on Migration for Latin America (CIMAL). Establishing data collection and processing capacities at the regional level remains a priority for IOM in South America. Additionally, IOM developed a network of practitioners and individuals interested on migration issues in the region, adding an expert voice to its CIMAL knowledge base. In Panama, designed a comprehensive migration policy for the nation. This initiative supported the Government of Panama’s efforts to improve migration governance in the country.

• Date:  6/8/2016    Paragraphs: -

There are approximately 57.5 million international migrants in the Americas, about 50 million in North America and 7.5 million in the other sub-regions. According to the United Nations Population Division, this corresponds to approximately 27 per cent of international migrants worldwide. Most Latin American States and the Caribbean have become net emigration countries; the migratory balance is negative by 6.8 million in Central America, by 3 million in South America and by 1.2 million in the Caribbean. Despite these strong flows from South to North, the movements from South to South have been increasing in recent years. The IOM’s Regional Policy Formulation and Coordination Committee conceived the 2014–2016 IOM Regional Strategy. that, in all of its actions in the region, an approach that will (a) put migrants’ rights first, (b) build governments’ and stakeholders’ capacities, (c) fully incorporate a gender perspective, and (d) ensure sustainability. IOM’s ultimate goal is to strengthen migration governance in the region and ensure humane and orderly migration that benefits all.


The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is the principal intergovernmental organization in the field of migration. In line with IOM’s global objective of harnessing the development potential of migration, for the benefit of both societies and migrants while contributing to poverty reduction and sustainable development, IOM’s work in the field of migration and development in the continent is a priority for the Organization. In this regard, IOM fosters synergies between labor migration and development, including the facilitation of temporary and circular labor migration, diaspora engagement initiatives, advice on migration and development policies, as well as the implementation of remittances and research projects.

In particular, IOM is building upon governments’ growing interest in protecting and assisting victims of human trafficking, unaccompanied children, internally displaced persons, and migrants who have been victims of crimes and abuses. IOM continue prioritizing capacity-building actions, awareness-raising campaigns, and the promotion of public policies that address human trafficking as well as the protection of and assistance to vulnerable migrants.

IOM continues to work to develop governments’ capacities to manage migration, advocate for international cooperation on migration initiatives, and include migration issues as a priority in relevant regional platforms and processes.

For example, IOM organizes the annual Inter-American Course on International Migration with the aim of disseminating knowledge useful in designing specific migration policies and programs suitable for each country. The course trains government officers in Latin America and the Caribbean working in the field of migration and aims to develop deeper understanding of the migration phenomenon in the region. IOM’s Latin American Program on Technical Cooperation in Migration aims to contribute to the improvement of the Latin American governments’ capacities to manage migration, with a view to enhancing the sustainable economic and human development of countries in the region, in harmony with current integration processes. The program will provide responses to the requirements of governments and civil society organizations dealing with a wide range of migration challenges.

• Date:  6/21/2011    Paragraphs: 17

To contribute to upholding the human rights of migrant workers, the International Organization for the migration (IOM) migration law experts, working with the OAS TRUST for the Americas, provided training to members of civil society organizations from Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The training contributed to raise awareness and build local capacities, and to improve assistance to migrant workers.
IOM labor migration programs between Colombia and Spain, as well as between Guatemala and Promoting Canada have allowed thousands of migrants to participate in legal schemes that provide fair pay and social benefits. In the past seven years, IOM Guatemala, working with Canadian employer associations and both governments, has assisted nearly 16,000 migrant workers to travel to Canada for an average stay of six months each year. The program, from Colombia to Spain, initially carried out with the Farmers Union of Catalonia, as well as national and local governments, allowed more than 3,800 Colombians to travel to Spain to work in agricultural endeavors for four to eight months and return to their communities of origin.

• IOM's Website

• Date:  3/22/2018    Paragraphs: -

One of the main evidence gaps on migration issues in Central America relates to the limited knowledge available on the magnitude and characteristics of human trafficking undertaken by juvenile criminal gangs, mostly in prejudice of girls and children. IOM supported different initiatives implemented
in Mexico to prevent and combat human trafficking, involving various sectors of the Government at the Federal and State levels, including the judicial sector, the Secretariat of Human Rights and Intersecretarial Commissions, the Secretariat for Foreign Relations and the Prosecutor’s Office. IOM also strengthened government agencies’ capacities in Nicaragua to prevent and combat violence against women, and in particular human trafficking. IOM also conducted work in South America to improve the regions ability to combat human trafficking. In Argentina, IOM worked closely with the National Committee against Human Trafficking to strengthen its capacity. Also, IOM provided technical assistance in designing and implementing migration management procedures to Ecuador’s Ministry of Interior and other institutions to improve border management and prevent human trafficking and migrant smuggling.

• Date:  6/21/2011    Paragraphs: 70

The IOM has partnered with civil society, governments, and international organizations including the OAS, to combat trafficking in persons by implementing dozens of projects in the Americas. These efforts focus on creating and strengthening the capacities of countries to address more adequately different challenges posed by human trafficking, increasingly with a victim-centered approach. Assistance to governments has included developing and bolstering comprehensive legislation, and setting up required infrastructure, such as funding instruments for emergency return and reintegration assistance to victims of trafficking.

IOM’s Counter Human Trafficking projects include conducting research, awareness raising, and training for judges, police and prosecutors on investigation techniques, and victim identification. IOM has recently supported the creation and strengthening of national counter-trafficking coalitions, victim assistance and service providers networks. Comprehensive measures helped implement national and regional information campaigns, support hotlines, and strengthen victim identification to prevent human trafficking.

• IOM's Website