Panama City – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, is helping Mexican and Central American officials strengthen their abilities to produce and analyze the data used in migration-related decision making through a workshop held this week (20-21/09) in Panama City.

"Data is a powerful tool for action," said Marcelo Pisani, IOM Regional Director for North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, during the opening of the two-day workshop.

"Having updated data on migration trends and flows allows us to assist decision-makers [in creating] efficient and relevant policies, as well as specific interventions, programme and project development, service delivery, and assistance. This information translates into effective protection of migrants’ rights,” he added.

The project, “Regional Strengthening of the Production and Analysis of Information on Migration”, seeks to strengthen the capacities of countries in the region to produce and analyze statistical data on migration, and to develop a Virtual Information Platform for Migration Governance (PIVGM). This platform will make official data on migratory flows and the socioeconomic conditions of migrants available to decision-makers and to the general public.

The initiative is an important contribution to the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. The text of the Global Compact, approved in July 2018, identifies cooperation between countries and an improvement in the collection of data on migration at the national and international levels as priorities to optimize the design of evidence-based policies.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development also calls upon countries to facilitate safe, regular and orderly migration, and to implement well-managed policies. In addition, regional bodies such as the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM) and the Central American Commission of Directors of Migration (OCAM) have previously acknowledged the need to address information gaps and enhance the exchange of information in one of the main migration transit areas in the world.

The platform, developed with funding of the IOM Development Fund and implemented in coordination with the mechanism for Caribbean Migration Consultations (CMC) and the RCM, will include user friendly and comparable data, visual representations, and cross-sectional information to facilitate access to and analysis of information, as well as the design of evidence-based migration policies and programmes.

The PIVGM will also contribute to standardizing the collection and exchange of relevant data within the network’s member countries, reinforcing intergovernmental collaboration.

For more information please contact Jorge Gallo at the IOM Regional Office for Central America, North America and the Caribbean, Tel: +506 2212 5352, Email: jgallo@iom.int