To continue compiling reliable data on
migration trends in Mesoamerica, IOM's Regional Office in San
José has received financial support from the Mexican
government through its National Migration Institute.

The IOM-coordinated initiative that began in
2001 now includes Mexico. The Migration Information and Statistics
System for Mesoamerica (SIEMMES by its Spanish acronym), receives,
compiles and analyzes data from Statistics Institutes and Migration
Directorates of Central America and Mexico.

The SIEMMES Website ( "paragraph-link-underlined" href="http://www.siemmes.iom.int"
target="_blank" title="">www.siemmes.iom.int) contains
more than 1,300 charts, graphs and other information documents with
statistics and analysis on migration-related themes such as
immigration, emigration, labour migration, remittances, and
international movements, amongst others.

"The website is a valuable tool for government
decisions makers, private institutions and international
organizations that work day in and day out on migration-related
topics. But it is also of extreme value when governments make
decisions at the regional level," said IOM's Regional
Representative in Costa Rica, José Pires.

IOM's World Migration Report 2005 points to
the need for more results-oriented research and consistent data
collection. In its introduction, the publication confirmed "even
some of the now well established regional consultative processes
still lack reliable data collection mechanisms, to evaluate their
own effectiveness as migration policy-driving mechanisms."

For more information contact:

Seidy Alvarez

IOM San José

Tel: 506.224.1152

Email: "mailto:salvarez@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">salvarez@iom.int