IOM's new micro credit project to help migrant families in
Argentina granted its first two loans this week.

The project, named Proyecto Recuperar, was created to provide
loans to migrant families with children and cartoneros, children
and adults who search in garbage dumps for recyclable materials as
a means to survive.

So far, five groups (each group consists of five members) have
applied for loans through the projects and another seven are in the
process of completing the application process.

The main objective of Proyecto Recuperar is to provide support
in the form of credit to groups with concrete ideas for the
creation of micro enterprises.  The credits are approved for
those families considered to be living in "extreme vulnerability"
in order to improve their living conditions and household income
levels.

The project also aims to broaden understanding about the rights
of children and to guarantee that all the beneficiaries' children
are enrolled in and attending school on a regular basis; not
involved in child labour; have access to health services and are
left in safe environments when their parents or guardians are
working. 

The project is also working with the beneficiaries and their
children to regularize their migratory status and to apply for
national identity cards.

Proyecto Recuperar is located in Villa 31, a slum neighbourhood
in the city of Buenos Aires.  The location was selected
following research conducted in 2005 by IOM and UNICEF on Child
Labour in Informal Recycling.  The study found that the
majority of cartonero families in the Villa 31 were also migrant
families.

In the city of Buenos Aires alone, the IOM/UNICEF research team
counted 8,762 people collecting recyclable materials from garbage
bags on the city streets, from dumps and in landfills.  Nearly
half of the informal recyclers or cartoneros in Buenos Aires are
children and youth, and 39 per cent are internal migrant
families.  The families earn an average of US$21 per week.

"With this pilot project IOM is aiming to improve the lives of
these families by providing credit and instilling concepts such as
solidarity, responsibility, discipline and the value of personal
and group initiatives to improve their living conditions," said
Eugenio Ambrosi, IOM's Regional Representative in Buenos Aires.

For more information and for a copy of the report, contact:

Jessica Koehs

IOM Buenos Aires

Tel: +54 1 14 815 51 94

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