El Salvador - IOM concluded this month the workshop “Exchange of border experience in Honduras and El Salvador to optimize response capabilities to cater to the needs of vulnerable people,” which served as a platform for the generation of a cross-border action plan and sharing of best practices of inter-institutional work at the local level.

The event was carried out in the framework of IOM’s Mesoamerica Regional Programme, funded by the United States government, designed to strengthen the capacities of government officials and civil society to adequately assist and protect vulnerable migrants.

This initiative seeks to improve local and bilateral coordination and the establishment of strategic networks to improve migration management. The activities took place in the department of Valle, in Honduras, and La Unión, in El Salvador.

This area is of special importance because of the heavy flow of migrants. According to the Honduran National Migration Institute, between January and May 2015, there were 171,995 people that entered the country, and another 143,772 that left, through this border. According to the Directorate of Migration, during the same period, 162,883 entered to El Salvador, and 163,205 left.

“This workshop has enabled us to boost interagency border coordination,” acknowledged the Vice Mayor of Guascorán, Honduras, José Alvarado. Likewise, the Human Rights Ombudsman for La Unión, El Salvador, Roberto Martinez hopes that  “these interagency and bi-national processes  will advance positively, enhancing coordination and joint efforts to protect vulnerable migrants.”

The meeting was attended by representatives of both countries, from government institutions and non-governmental organizations such as the Community Development Associations (ADESCO), Office for the Defense of Human Rights (PDDH), the Salvadoran Institute for Children and Adolescents (ISNA), Red Cross, Vocational Training Institute (INFOP), Committee of Migrants and Relatives of Goascorán, National Commissioner for Human Rights, National Board for Children, Youth and Family (DINAF), the National Migration Institute, among others.

IOM recognizes the progress made by the governments of El Salvador and Honduras and reiterates its commitment to continue supporting bilateral coordination at strategic borders to improve migration management.

For further information, please contact Cecilia Ramírez, IOM El Salvador, Tel: +503 2521 0519, Email: ceramirez@iom.int. Or Evelyn Andino, IOM Honduras, Tel: + 504  2237 75 51,  Email: eandino@iom.int