September 26, 2023
The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (GS/OAS) and the Government of the Republic of El Salvador, through the National Council for Early Childhood, Children and Adolescents (CONAPINA), signed an agreement that establishes the starting point for the project “Enhancing the Livelihoods of Returnee Children and Adolescents in need of Protection and their families”.
The project will be implemented between 2023 and 2024 with funding from the Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework Fund (MIRPS Fund), established within the OAS and administered by its Department of Social Inclusion.
This project will benefit more than 60 families of returned children and adolescents in need of protection through:
• the provision of humanitarian assistance;
• the provision of seed capital for entrepreneurship; and,
• scholarships for studies and/or technical specialization.
The assistance provided will offer families access to opportunities that facilitate durable solutions and contribute to prevent the forced displacement of children and adolescents in the country through a sustainable and safe integration in the communities of origin or host communities and the enjoyment of their rights.
The initiative is part of the first portfolio of projects of the MIRPS Fund, launched with the pioneering contribution of Spain.
The event was attended by the Representative of the OAS General Secretariat in El Salvador, Juan Carlos Roncal; the Ambassador of Spain in El Salvador, Carlos de la Morena Casado; the Executive Director of CONAPINA, Linda Amaya de Morán; the Director of Human Mobility and Attention to Migrants of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rosa Evelyn López Girón; the Executive Director of the El Salvador Agency for International Cooperation, Karla Majano de Palma; the Representative of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, Laura Almirall; and the Regional Coordinator of the MIRPS Fund, Melissa Pocasangre.
About the MIRPS Fund:
The MIRPS Fund is the specific voluntary contributions fund of the Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework in Central America and Mexico, unanimously approved by the OAS Permanent Council on May 27, 2020. The approval of this fund fulfills a mandate given to the OAS General Secretariat by the highest political body of the Organization during the OAS General Assembly held in 2019 in Medellin, Colombia.
The MIRPS Fund is one of the mechanisms for the collection and channeling of financial resources through voluntary contributions that will allow the 7 MIRPS countries (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama) to comply with the commitments acquired in the framework of this process, responding from an approach of shared responsibility to the challenges posed by forced displacement in this region, in order to protect and improve the living conditions of people who have been forced to be displaced and the communities that host them. But also, in light of the challenges that have unfortunately already intensified with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic which will require additional investments and efforts to address the needs of refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons and returnees with protection needs in this region.
About the MIRPS:
The Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework (MIRPS) is an innovative mechanism for the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees to facilitate regional cooperation among countries of origin, transit and destination for greater shared responsibility for prevention, protection and durable solutions in the face of increased forced displacement in Central America and Mexico. The MIRPS Technical Secretariat is comprised of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Organization of American States (OAS), through its Department of Social Inclusion.