A new IOM pilot project, funded by the US Department of State,
Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), will bring
together the private and public sectors in Chinandega, a poor
agricultural area northwest of Nicaragua's capital, Managua, to
ensure the successful economic reintegration of victims of
trafficking, and to build the capacity of local government
officials and community organizations working with women.

To identify employment opportunities for the victims of
trafficking who have returned home with IOM assistance, IOM and
local partners will conduct a mapping exercise to identify NGOs,
civil organizations, cooperatives and other groups in
Chinandega.

Besides Chinandega, where IOM has been assisting victims of
trafficking for the past three years, the project will expand to
include the border areas of Somoto and Ocotal.

In the past three years IOM Nicaragua has provided return and
reintegration assistance to 64 young Nicaraguan women who had been
trafficked to El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica and
Mexico for sexual exploitation.

"There is still a lot of work ahead of us.  The capacity
building that this new phase of the project will provide to local
authorities is vital to fight the traffickers," explains Brenda De
Trinidad, IOM Counter Trafficking Project Coordinator in
Nicaragua.

At a local information fair aimed at raising awareness against
domestic violence, four young women assisted by the IOM project,
handed out flyers and spoke to the public about the dangers of
falling victim to traffickers who prey on poverty, unemployment and
lack of information and offer young women bogus jobs in
neighbouring countries.

De Trinidad adds, "A vivid example of the need for more capacity
and resources is the story of a mother who received a phone call
from her daughter who had been trafficked to Guatemala.  She
realized that it was up to her to rescue her daughter, and so she
travelled to the neighbouring country, freed her daughter from her
captors and brought her home."

The IOM project also provides medical and psychosocial
assistance, as well as vocational training. 

"These young women are very courageous, many of them managed to
flee very dangerous situations; they are depressed and desperate
because they have no way to make a living.  So IOM's
assistance must provide the means for them to heal and successfully
reintegrate from a social and economic standpoint," explains Berta
Fernandez, IOM Chief of Mission in Nicaragua.

Nicaragua is a country of origin for women and children
trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labour.  Women
and young girls are trafficked for sexual exploitation within the
country and outside its borders primarily to Guatemala and El
Salvador, and in smaller numbers to Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras,
Venezuela, Spain, and the United States.  Children are
trafficked within the country for forced labour in construction,
agriculture, fishing, and domestic servitude. 

For more information, please contact:

IOM Nicaragua

Brenda de Trinidad

Tel: +505.278.9569

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