This week IOM Mexico and the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives
signed a Donation Agreement to carry out a project to promote
education for migrant children in Mexico's southern border city of
Tapachula, Chiapas.

With the goal of promoting educational continuity and lowering
the dropout rate amongst migrant children, the new IOM project will
work with parents, teachers, school authorities, and consulates, to
promote migrant children's access to educational services in Mexico
and to ensure that schooling attained in Mexico is validated in
students' countries of origin.

Each year approximately 1.7 million migrants cross Mexico's
southern border; nearly 90 per cent pursue work in the region,
primarily in agricultural endeavours such as coffee and banana
crops.  Among these migrants are children who often become
victims of labour exploitation and are not able to attend school
without interruption.

Through this five-month project, IOM will support the State of
Chiapas' educational aid efforts by increasing to one third the
portion of migrant children in Tapachula who receive basic
education.

Additionally, the project aims to increase the number of
schooling validation applications in respective consulates so that
the migrant children can continue their studies in their countries
of origin with fewer paperwork disturbances.

"Child and adolescent migrants face particular challenges, one
of which is attaining an education that will break help break the
cycle of poverty.  We hope with this project to foster a
network, which includes the state and local governments, schools,
and families, to expand migrant children's possibilities to realize
an adequate education," explains Thomas Lothar Weiss, IOM Chief of
Mission in Mexico.

This education project is part of IOM Mexico's work in the
southern border.  With sub-offices in Tapachula since 2006,
and Tuxtla Gutierrez, inaugurated this year, IOM works with the
Chiapas State Government, as well as local governments, and civil
society and private sector organizations.  Based in Mexico
City, IOM Mexico also has a sub-office in Ciudad Juarez,
Chihuahua.

The Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, administered by the
Canadian Embassy in Mexico, provides financial support for small
sustainable development projects in Mexico in the areas of
democratic governance, human rights, rural development and
health.

For more information, please contact:

Jeremy Mac Gillivray

IOM Mexico

Tel: +52 55 5536 3922

E-mail: "mailto:jmacgillivray@iom.int">jmacgillivray@iom.int