Latin American Local Governments Join IOM in Search of Better Local Governance of Migration

 
Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Other
5 August, 2021

 

Framed by a partnership between the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Latin American Federation of Cities, Municipalities and Local Governments Associations (FLACMA) more than 100 people from 24 countries met on August 4 in the "Seminar on International Migration and Local Development: Challenges and Benefits of Good Migration Governance at the Local Level". 

 

The activity presented the methodology and experiences around the Migration Governance Indicators (MGI), a comprehensive IOM tool that was created to support countries in the implementation of target 10.7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The purpose of this tool is to have a wide framework that allows countries to make public policy decisions aimed at managing safe, orderly, and regular migration. 

  

"Migration is a global phenomenon with impacts in each location", said Sergio Arredondo Olvera, Secretary General of FLACMA. "We need to trigger an international dynamic, in which local governments, regions and cities turn our gaze and institutional efforts to solve the problems that stem from migration." 

  

Since 2016, MGIs have been implemented in more than 80 countries, working on a basis of more than 90 questions that allow characterizing migration in the territory. However, a key part of the tool is its adaptability to be used in local contexts, generating comparative data to understand the local situation within the national context. Around the world, 30 municipalities or cities have already implemented it to better understand migration in their territories. 

 

The activity was addressed to local and municipal government authorities throughout Latin America, with emphasis on local government officials and managers responsible for municipal social management, public security and citizen care, and representatives of local government associations and city networks. 

  

"Acknowledging that migrants and their families are subject to local conditions upon arrival in destination communities, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration marks a significant breakthrough in addressing migration governance from all levels of government", said Alexandra Bonnie, IOM’s Western Hemisphere Program Coordinator. "It is of vital importance to build more inclusive cities, through the participation of the migrant population in urban planning and disaster risk management, among other issues". 

 

This activity was conducted within the framework of IOM’s Western Hemisphere Program, funded by the United States Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. Through this program, IOM has supported 11 local governments in Mesoamerica in the implementation of MGIs.