IOM successfully concludes regional diploma course on labour migration

 
Haiti, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Other, Panama
9 July, 2020

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Independent Monitoring Group of El Salvador (GMIES) held the closing ceremony of the Diploma on Labor Migration on June 30, with technical assistance from the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Specialized Institute of Higher Education for Diplomatic Training (IEESFORD).   

  

The purpose of the course was to strengthen knowledge about labor migration and thus promote reflection and the implementation of actions to care for, manage, and protect migrant workers and their families, within the framework of a rights-based approach and effective management of labor migration.  

  

The activity was headed by Jorge Peraza Breedy, IOM’s chief of mission in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras; Claudia Samayoa, IEESFORD rector; Vinicio Sandoval, GMIES executive director; Francesco Carella, ILO specialist in labor migration and mobility for Central America, Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba; and Valeria Uribe, director of the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) in Mexico. 

  

The diploma was aimed at public officials, representatives of civil society organizations, employers and labor organizations in the Member Countries of the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM), whose work is directly or indirectly related to labor migration.  

  

Peraza commented that the characteristics and dynamics of the labor migration process present a series of challenges that will surely be increased by the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also open up new scenarios and opportunities for development. "Because of the experience gained throughout this diploma course, the participants will be better able to support the migrant working population and, therefore, contribute to the economic and social development of our region," he added.  

  

 This 80-hour diploma will strengthen the capacities in the design and implementation of labor migration policies of 37 people from the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Brazil and Chile. 

  

Joel Navarrete, a participant in the training process, said that this opportunity has been of great benefit, both to acquire new knowledge and to strengthen those they already had, since it is a very sensitive issue due to the constant growth in migratory flows, "our compatriots migrate in search of new hope or a better life," he added. 

 

This initiative was approved during the XXIV Vice-Ministerial Meeting of the Regional Conference on Migration (Guatemala 2019), within the framework of its 2019-2022 Strategic Plan.  

  

The diploma was made possible by the technical and financial assistance of the Regional Program on Migration Mesoamerica- The Caribbean, implemented by IOM since 2010 with funding from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM).