Opportunities to Stay

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In Central America, especially in rural areas, different cities face different problems for creating employment opportunities and quality education for their young populations.

Those obstacles cause the young to migrate — usually to other cities or countries in the hope of improving their living conditions. Unfortunately, in most cases, this international migration occurs irregularly, exposing young people to different risks and dangerous conditions.

Due to the economic and social situation faced by these young people, the alternative to migration in many cities of Central America is to leave their studies to work or to get involved in gangs and criminal activities in the most regrettable cases.

This is the situation in Bilwi, a municipality of the Autonomous Region of the North Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua (RACCN). This city needs more and better opportunities for its young inhabitants who, in many neighborhoods, are prone to get involved in drugs and crime — thanks to an overwhelmingly easy access to narcotics.

To meet this challenge, IOM, the UN Migration Agency launched the “Project for the Prevention and Reintegration of Youth at Risk and Conflict with the North Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua Act,” funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The project seeks to promote effective opportunities for the social and economic inclusion of young people at risk and in conflict with the law. This initiative is based on the idea that by supporting social and economic inclusion of this population, they will contribute to the construction of more equitable, productive and peaceful communities.

To do so, activities were carried out via three major channels:

1. Improving the local service delivery in order to achieve the social and economic inclusion of young people at risk.

2. Promoting relevant skills and competencies among young participants to facilitate their access to the labor market.

3. Involving local community, private and public actors to generate dialogue on the specific challenges faced by youth in the RACCN that prevent their social and economic inclusion.

Furthermore, participants attended group sessions (female-only, male-only and mixed groups) to learn about issues such as violence, gender violence, non-violent masculinities and anger management. Through the sessions, they had the opportunity to elaborate a Personal Development Action Plan after a reflection process on their potential, abilities and interests.

Patty Moore is one of the beneficiaries of this project. She is 28 years old and is originally from Bilwi, specifically from the El Muelle neighborhood, one of the areas with high rates of crime and drug trafficking. There she lives with her two children: an eight-year-old and a one-year-old.

A few years ago, Patty was trapped in the world of drugs and alcohol because, she says, it was “normal.” But with the birth of her children, she wanted to turn her life around and get over her addiction to give her children a better future.

Patty says she found in this project an opportunity to reach her goal: to have her own restaurant called “Two Brothers.” That’s the name she imagines hanging outside her house, where in a few months she hopes to see her dream realized. This is one of the stories among the 130 total participants of the project.

This pilot project was very successful in Bilwi, having an outreach of 150 per cent of the beneficiaries (100 per cent of the initial target beneficiaries and an extra 50 per cent). All the activities implemented by the project had greater demand than expected, which is a clear indicator that this type of project is not only highly appreciated, but also necessary. It is important to mention that the participation of different actors is key to the development of initiatives like this one. In this specific case, it was supported by mothers and fathers of families, government institutions, community leaders and judges, the academy, civil society organizations and business sector associations of Bilwi.

It is important to move towards a world in which migration is a voluntary decision and always via safe channels. To achieve this, it is necessary to continue developing initiatives such as this project in Bilwi, in order to build more socially and economically inclusive communities. This will prevent irregular and forced migration due to a negative environment.

This story was posted by Anabell Cruz Zavala, Media and Communication Officer at IOM Nicaragua and Jean Pierre Mora, Communications Specialist at IOM Regional Office for Central America, North America, and the Caribbean.