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.

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.

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.