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USAID, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Belize, and the Government of Belize launched a communication campaign on September 5 to raise awareness on the importance of migrant integration in the country.
The “Raising Awareness on the Integration of Migrants in Belize” campaign encompasses 21 communication products, including videos, audios, and graphic materials, to sensitize on social cohesion and integration and inform migrants of the services available to them.
The communication initiative includes a video on Belize’s migration requirements as well as a video on migrants’ dreams and aspirations. The main objectives of the campaign are to disseminate messages on regular pathways for migrants in Belize and integration services offered through Migrant Hubs. Also, to contribute to reducing discrimination and xenophobia by highlighting the positive contributions of migrants to Belize.
The communication campaign is an initiative of the Integrated Responses on Migration from Central America program, implemented by IOM with the support of USAID in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama.
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Special Announcement
The Central American Service Corps (CASC, or in Spanish, Cuerpo de Servicio Centroamericano) has a new website for you to check out!
CASC addresses the range of challenges youth face in the region to reduce irregular youth migration from targeted communities in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. As a U.S. interagency initiative, funded in part through the Central America Youth Empowerment Program (CAYEP), CASC expects to reach approximately 60,000 youth from northern Central America over a span of five years.
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Improved Livelihoods for Coastal Communities in Honduras and Guatemala
Over 3,590 people in the Caribbean of Honduras and Guatemala achieved more than $2 million in sales through 17 biocommerce ventures in fishing and tourism as a result of the USAID and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Regional Coastal Biodiversity Project. Additionally, five of the biocommerce ventures integrated renewable energy production to adapt to climate change, installing 243 solar panels with the capacity to generate 91.76 kW.
For seven years, the project worked to generate environmental, economic and social benefits in ecosystems and marine-coastal communities in border sites of high biodiversity in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, applying the biotrade approach to help reduce threats to biodiversity and create economic prosperity and roots in the intervened territories.
The project improved natural resource management in 527,724 hectares of coastal-marine landscapes in Guatemala and Honduras, establishing closed seasons for control of species of commercial interest, and identifying biodiversity zones between two protected areas: Punta de Manabique, Guatemala, and Cuyamel Omoa, Honduras. The project also supported regulation of fishing limits for shrimp in the Caribbean of Guatemala and fisheries recovery zones and management plans for Karataska, in Honduras and Guatemala.
With an investment of more than $13 million from USAID, IUCN implemented the project in consortium with GOAL International, as a regional partner, and IUCN member organizations: Salvadoran Ecological Unit, the Moskitia Development Agency, Defenders of Nature Foundation, and Association for the Rescue of Wildlife), as well as territorial allies, including the Association of Local Environmental Management Programs and Ocean Seeds Association in Guatemala, and Conservation Corps Association and Center for Marine Studies, in Honduras.
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New Spaces at the Omoa Migrant Attention Center Improve Conditions for Returned Migrants in Honduras
On September 12, the Honduran Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (SRECI), USAID, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) inaugurated the remodeling of complementary infrastructure at the Center for Attention to Returned Migrants (CAMR) in Omoa, which includes the expansion of its storage spaces for humanitarian aid and the installation of new gender-differentiated shower units. This remodeling provides safer and more dignified hygiene environments for Honduran returnees, thus guaranteeing their privacy.
According to official figures from the National Migration Institute , 24,328 Hondurans have been returned so far this year. Of these, 2,444 received immediate assistance after their arrival at the CAMR in Omoa.
The collaboration between IOM and SRECI has been fundamental in making the new spaces, valued at more than 1.6 million Lempiras (equivalent to more than $64,800 dollars), a reality.
The remodeling and expansion of CAMR Omoa are part of the IOM and USAID Integrated Responses to Migration from Central America program.
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Regional Water Security Exchange Held
To share knowledge, lessons learned, successes, and failures in water security initiatives, the USAID regional Upper Lempa Watershed Project organized a Regional Water Security Exchange, focusing on key issues for water management in communities in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
This meeting, held September 3-4 in Chiquimula, Guatemala, brought together 60 members from municipal water security committees of the three countries to learn about financial mechanisms for water management, including user fees, maintenance funds, access to microcredit and government subsidies, providing them tools to support community management of water resources.
These committees are made up of the municipal environmental units and representatives of the Community Organizations of Water and Sanitation Systems.
In view of the growing demand for and scarcity of water in rural areas, participants stressed the importance of strengthening community management to optimize distribution systems and protect water sources.
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Time Is Money Especially at the Borders
Through USAID’s Regional Trade Facilitation and Border Management Project that ended last August, over 200 companies were trained on meeting the requirements of the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Program in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, and 34 obtained AEO certification. This certification grants benefits such as streamlined procedures, priority treatment in cargo clearance processes, and better access to international markets.
David Flores, representative from one of the participating companies, BALU Group, said about the AEO program, “Our main motivation (for participating) is to be able to compete, and we found out that the process itself contributed quite a lot to us, enriching our management system.” BALU Group provides ground transport and services including warehouse, maintenance, and repair of empty containers.
Watch this video to learn more about the AEO program benefits.
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The Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) hosted a high-level delegation from USAID and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on September 5 to advance the creation of the SERVIR-Central America Hub. This platform will leverage space technology to improve climate resilience in the region, a firm step towards a more sustainable future.
Read more here.
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