IOM Mexico is actively participating in the World Youth Conference
(WYC), taking place this week in Leon, Mexico.

More than 10,000 participants from governments, civil society,
youth associations worldwide, and international agencies have come
together at the weeklong event, co-organized by the Mexican
Government through its National Youth Institute, the federal state
of Guanajuato as well as the United Nations System, to discuss the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and ways to empower global
youth through the establishment of public policies promoting youth
engagement.

On the first day of the Conference, IOM organized a series of
round table discussions on the nexus between international
migration and youth, human trafficking and mixed migration flows,
the latter in cooperation with the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR).

"Information on safe migration options, the risks and perils of
irregular migration, the human rights of all migrants, and youth
oriented policies represent some of the most important elements in
youth migration. IOM's presence at this conference, as well as
its different programmatic areas in a country most concerned by
international migration, has contributed to the multiple debates
and discussions carried out during the week," says IOM's Chief of
Mission in Mexico, Thomas Lothar Weiss.

According to the latest UN research, approximately 16 per cent
of all international migrants, or more than 35 million persons, are
youth between the ages of 15 and 24.   And Mexico is at
the epicentre of youth migration given that in 2009 approximately
900,000 Mexicans migrated to the United States; 55 per cent of
which were between the ages of 15 and 24.

In 2008, more than 5,200 Central American minors were
repatriated from Mexico to their countries of origin, mainly
Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, while in the same
year, the United States returned more than 32,000 Mexican
minors.

Most young adults travel in order to find jobs to help support
their families back home while others leave their countries of
origin in order to reunite with their family members in countries
of destination.

Young migrants are particularly vulnerable to abuse and violence
during the migration process, as well as in points of
destination.

"Migration is an important topic at this conference.  The
young participants know how closely and profoundly it affects
them.  It's for this reason that IOM is involved in the round
tables on migration and is happy to see that migration will be part
of the final declaration," adds Weiss.

The Plural + Initiative, a video contest organized by IOM and
the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations to gather youth's
impressions of migration and diversity through short video clips,
was presented in order to generate a debate on the benefits of
pluralistic societies and multiculturalism.

IOM Mexico also provided logistical assistance to the Mexican
Youth Institute by assisting in the visa procurement process and
providing travel support to participants from outside the Latin
American region.

This is the first of a number of international conferences that
will take place in Mexico this year, including the IV Global Forum
on Migration and Development, for which IOM is also providing
thematic and logistical support.

For further information please contact:

Mariela Guajardo

IOM Mexico

Tel: +52.55.5536.3922

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