IOM and OAS Launch Online Course on Migrant Children in Latin America

San José – On September 24th, IOM, the UN Migration Agency, opened the "Specialized Course on Migrant Children in the Americas" via its Learning Platform on Migration.

As of June of this year, 7,824 migrant children have been returned by the migration authorities of Mexico and the United States to the Northern Triangle of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras). At the same time, migration trends from South America are marked by the emigration of Venezuelans – an estimated 2.3 million people live abroad, including migrant children. Numbers like these demonstrate the relevance of the virtual course that IOM and OAS launched.

The course is available in Spanish and is designed for specialists on children and adolescents, or migration issues. The course involves 80 hours of training and a wide number of multimedia resources and complementary material, which provides a great level of interaction.

Participants will have access to nine modules with a comprehensive approach to issues such as children’s rights and public policies; the international and regional normative framework; protection mechanisms; children return and reintegration; mental health care, among others. Additionally, the course offers a series of tools for action, which will facilitate applying the obtained knowledge. The course is designed in collaboration with other United Nations agencies including UNICEF and ILO, and civil society organizations such as Save the Children.

Migration management poses great challenges for governments worldwide. When it comes to children and adolescents, a series of social, legal and cultural factors influence the processes and pose additional challenges for countries, institutions and related organizations.

A course invitation was sent to the agencies in charge of issues related to childhood and adolescence, and migration; as well as to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs in the region, and to other institutions. A total of more than 300 specialists from the region were enrolled in this first session of 2018.

This effort is the product of a framework agreement between the Inter-American Children's Institute (IIN-OAS) and IOM. It promotes the development and implementation of joint projects throughout the continent and creates a precedent for future cooperation.

The agreement was signed by both IOM regional directors in Latin America, Marcelo Pisani, representing IOM’s Regional Office for Central America, North America and the Caribbean, and Diego Beltrand, representing IOM’s Regional Office for South America. On behalf of IIN, the agreement was signed by Víctor Giorgi, General Director of the Institute. The design and development of the course were made possible with funding from the US State Department within the framework of the IOM Mesoamerica Program.

For more information, please contact: Alexandra Bonnie, IOM Mesoamerica Regional Program, Email: abonnie@iom.int or Esteban de la Torre Ribadeneira, Inter-American Institute of Children, Girls and Adolescents, Email: edelatorre@iinoea.or