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  "Migration @ Americas"

Education of Children and Young Migrants

Background and brief description of the project

The "Education for migrant children and youth" with a duration of three years projected the documentation, systematization and dissemination of lessons learned from policies, programs and best practices aimed at providing quality educational experiences for children and young migrants. The expected results include raising awareness and capacity in education ministries and agencies of the Americas on the development, implementation and evaluation of programs to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for this population.

The project is part of a component within the Inter-American Program for Human Rights of Migrants and their Families, adopted by resolution AG / RES. 2141 (XXXV-O/05). It was funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) through a budgetary allocation of U.S. $ 200,000 - for three years. It was executed by the Office of Education and Culture (OEC) of the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development of the OAS (SEDI).

Project Stages

The project embraces three main stages. In the first stage, which was carried out throughout 2009, the objectives were:

1) Document the size and nature of the phenomenon (the situation of migrant children and youth in the Member States) and

2) To document and analyze relevant policies and educational programs at a national level.

Based on the work done at this stage, the Office of Education and Culture conducted a literature review on the topic, they implemented a survey to the Ministries of Education and prepared an analytical report on public policy in education for migrant children and youth to be distributed in various technical and political forums of the OAS. Furthermore, they published an online newsletter on the topic.

In 2010, the project developed three small case studies in Argentina, Costa Rica and Antigua and Barbuda to learn about experiences, needs and challenges of immigrant communities in the Americas on the issue of education of children and youth. Initially, the objective of the second stage was to "compile relevant information of innovative initiatives on education in the hemisphere who have had good results for children and young migrants," but has been reformulated in light of the results of the first stage. In the first half of 2011, the results of these case studies were published and an international seminar was organized to discuss the findings and recommendations for developing policies to address children and young migrants.

The seminar was an opportunity for Member States to share lessons learned from the educational policies and programs for children and young migrants in the hemisphere. Finally, the project sought to develop policy recommendations for OAS Member States, that can be taken into account at inter-American forums and to appeal to the attention of policymakers and other stakeholders on the need to develop and implement policies in this area. The OEC aims to ensure that this project takes into account advances in the field made by OAS member states, as well as other international organizations and civil society.

For more information about this project please contact us  migration@oas.org