Guatemala City, Guatemala, November 9, 2017 – On November 7, 2017, Casa del Migrante Guatemala hosted a coordination meeting of the “Guate Te Incluye” Network, an intersectoral mechanism for coordinating the social and labor inclusion of migrants returning to the country, in which the Scalabrinian Migrant House of Guatemala participates. The meeting was attended by the Director and staff of the Avina Foundation, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of the Interior, RENAP, INTECAP, Fe y Alegría, Asociación de Retornados de Guatemala, Conexión Laboral / Te Conecta , Fundación Génisis Empresarial, CENTRARSE and staff of Casa del Migrante de Guatemala.

This Network was formed in 2017 and has managed to bring together some 37 key players from the public, private and social sectors of the country. This program is led by the Avina Foundation, a Latin American foundation created in 1994, focused on producing large-scale changes for the sustainable development of the region, through the construction of collaborative processes among actors from different sectors to positively impact the Objectives of Sustainable Development.

With the actions of coordination in this space, we have been able to systematized labor guidance, training, certification of skills and scholarships for returned migrants or people related to migration, some ventures, as well as humanitarian assistance, among others. “This program aims to stop seeing return migration as a problem, it actually turns it into an opportunity“, said the Director of the Avina Foundation.

About SIMN – SIMN is supporting more than 250 Scalabrinian centers, shelters and programs that are providing lodging, food, training and employment programs; psychological and religious services; protection to victims of human trafficking and support in the integration process to migrants, refugees and seafarers in five continents. In 2016, for example, Scalabrinian Centers has supported 120,738 migrants and refugees and 172,790 seafarers around the world. SIMN is also supporting a network of schools providing education, school supplies, and food, (possibly their only meal of the day) to thousands of needy children. In addition, SIMN is an accredited Non-Governmental Organization at the United Nations, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Organization of American States (OAS) and from this perspective is providing research and support for regional and global policies to protect and promote the dignity and the rights of migrants and their families.