With the objective of strengthening technical cooperation, research, training and support in the coordination of national human rights and migration policies, Giuseppe Loprete, Head of the IOM Panama (Global) Administrative Centre and Chief of Mission in Panama, and the Ombudsman, Eduardo Leblanc González, signed a Framework Agreement on Wednesday, September 6, 2023.

Furthermore, this agreement seeks to establish referral mechanisms in both institutions, respecting the principles of confidentiality and data protection, as well as generating good practices in terms of intervention by the Ombudsman's Office in the promotion and defence of the rights of migrants.

Giuseppe Loprete revealed that this agreement is mutually reinforcing in terms of human rights, since the Ombudsman's Office is a Strategic Ally and has all the tools to support IOM.

"It is the level of commitment of the Ombudsman's Office and all of its collaborators who are in the front line with us next to migrants, with the population invulnerable conditions. It is satisfactory to continue and strengthen this collaboration between both entities that is now crucial”, said Loprete.

For his part, the Ombudsman stressed that both organizations provide nation-wide support and, with this agreement, will increase the capacities of attention to migrants seeking to remain in Panama, as well as those just passing through Approximately 348.000 migrants have crossed the Darien jungle as of the first week of September 2023, and many more are expected to continue crossing.

"Migration, this movement of people, was not invented by international organizations, it was not invented by the Ombudsman's Office. This phenomenon is produced by each country’s internal policies”, Leblanc González said.

IOM will strengthen, through advice and technical assistance, the capacities of the Ombudsman's Office for the development of programmes and actions related to international law and the rights of migrants. Concurrently, the institution will be provided with materials, studies and public reports prepared by IOM that contribute to the analysis of the national and regional contexts of human mobility; and will support, through training programmes developed by IOM, the specialization of the Ombudsman's Office staff members for the nation-wide assistance to migrants. For more information, contact IOM Panama's communications team via iompanama@iom.int.