Eighteen government officials and representatives from the private
sector, civil society, academia, and trade unions from Latin
America, gathered in San Salvador this week for a Training of
Trainers on Labour Migration Management, developed and delivered by
IOM.

It is estimated that some 86 million persons work outside their
country of origin world-wide; 7.5 million persons are on the move
within Latin America, with 2.5 million of them moving in search of
employment opportunities.  Latin American families received
some USD 62 billion through remittances in 2009, something that has
become a virtual lifeline for many.

IOM labour migration experts provided technical expertise
through specially designed modules to enhance participants'
abilities to run training sessions within their own countries and
regions on the drafting and implementing of labour migration
management.

The participants from Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Peru and Uruguay, will be able to apply the
information, training and tools received to improve labour
migration policies and programmes in their individual
countries.

Labour migration often involves persons vulnerable both to
exploitation by employers and limited in their access to social
services in the country of destination.  In Central America,
interregional and cross-border migration has increased dramatically
with "south-south" migration becoming a defining feature of new
labour migration trends.  The recent economic crisis has only
intensified the precarious position for labour migrants in all of
Latin America.

Vice-Minister for Labour and Social Security of El Salvador,
Calixto Mejía Hernández, told participants, "The
Government of El Salvador recognizes the need to have a global
labour migration strategy, which includes exhaustive analysis and
legislation design, and programmes that take into account the right
of labour migrants to enjoy the same benefits as national workers,
including decent working conditions, gender equality, standard
working hours, compensatory wages, and the protection of their
human rights."

Ricardo Cordero, Head of IOM Labour Migration Service said,
"This training is part of a greater world-wide effort by IOM to
provide training aimed at improving existing labour migration
management skills in countries of origin, transit, and destination
which are flexible and can adapt to the realities and needs of the
different sectors."

For more information, please contact:

Diane Ruiz de Artega

IOM El Salvador

Tel: + 5032264-6590

Email: "mailto:Druizdearteaga@iom.int">Druizdearteaga@iom.int