Empowerment and Rights of Migrants

The Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, also known as Escazú Agreement, was adopted on March 4, 2018 in Escazú, Costa Rica. This treaty strengthens the link between human rights and environmental defense by posing obligations on the States parties, regarding the protection of environmental human rights defenders. Thus, the Escazú Agreement promotes a four-pillar model of environmental democracy.

On January 9, 2023, Chile and Colombia signed a joint advisory opinion request to be presented before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), aiming to clarify the scope of the state obligations for responding to the climate emergency under the frame of international human rights law. The request acknowledged the human rights effects of the climate emergency, especially highlighting the vulnerability of communities and ecosystems in Latin America. In this line, Colombia and Chile emphasized the need for regional standards to accelerate action to confront climate change. 

The Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund (ARTF) is a multi-donor trust fund that coordinates international aid to improve the lives of Afghans. It’s administered by the World Bank and currently supported by 32 donor partners.

Established in 2002, the ARTF was the largest source of on-budget financing for Afghanistan's development until the political event in Afghanistan in August 2021. Until then, it funded Afghanistan’s national priority projects, including in health, education, agriculture, rural development, infrastructure, and public financial management.

The Development Response to Displacement Impact Project (DRDIP) is a World Bank funded project through Investment Project Financing-IDA Loan to the Government of Uganda of about 50 Million dollars and is implemented by the office of the Prime Minister. 

The Project provides development and direct income support to vulnerable nationals and refugees within refugee hosting districts in Uganda and aims to improve access to basic social services, expand economic opportunities and enhance environmental management in refugee hosting districts.

In February 2021, the Colombian government launched the Temporary Protection Status (Estatuto Temporal de Protección para Migrantes Venezolanos, or ETPV), a legal mechanism which facilitates the transition of migrants from an emergency migratory regime to a regularization status, granting access to formal employment, education, healthcare, and financial services for almost two million Venezuelan migrants and refugees. 

In accordance with the local development plan, in 2020, the city government of Barranquilla (Colombia) created the Local Integration Centre for Migrants (CILM, for its Spanish acronym), which provides orientation, referrals, and support to Venezuelan refugees and migrants, as well as Colombian returnees from Venezuela, to grant them access to procedures and services. 

The main objectives are three: 

The aim of the MigrantVoicesHeard project is to promote refugee and migrant participation in the design and implementation of integration and related policies at the local, regional, and national levels in seven EU countries: Austria, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, and Romania.

More specifically, the project aims to:

Zimbabwe is destination, transit and largely sending country for labour migrants to countries in Southern Africa and further afield. Labour migration in Zimbabwe has been characterized by many challenges, including brain drain, irregular migration, lack of a mechanism for social protection of migrant workers and lack of up-to-date statistics on labour migration.

Guided by the Africa Union Migration Policy Framework for Africa (2018-2030), the National Migration Policy has been launched by the Zimbabwean Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage's immigration department. 

Founded in 1995, Youth Alliance has provided a healing space and given a platform to individuals who are most impacted by social inequities and harmful societal narratives. 

It aims to create opportunities and space for youth and families to be heard, engage, thrive, and lead. This youth-led programming empowers young people to work alongside their peers, families, and elders to create thriving communities and become leaders in their communities, and to effect change.