Amexcid to launch cooperation and development projects in Colombia and Ecuador

Amexcid to launch cooperation and development projects in Colombia and Ecuador

• Mexico's international development cooperation (IDC) strategy has led to a big drop in the intention to migrate in El Salvador and Honduras.

As a result of the agreements reached at the Palenque Meeting: For a fraternal neighborhood with well-being, it was agreed to launch Mexico's Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life) and Juntos por el Bienestar (Together for Wellbeing) cooperation projects in Colombia and Ecuador, countries that expressed their interest in having Mexico, through the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (Amexcid), allocate resources to these projects.

Letters of intent were signed on August 21 and September 9, 2023 with Colombia and Ecuador, respectively, to promote these projects, which will reach 8,000 beneficiaries in both countries.

Sembrando Vida will provide monthly financial support for up to eight months, technical assistance and an agricultural package, among other benefits.

The beneficiaries of Juntos por el Bienestar will receive monthly financial support for up to six months and training in the companies and work centers that are participating in the project.

The monthly financial support will be delivered directly and without intermediaries to the beneficiaries in the two countries, according to their needs and based on the agreements reached.

Negotiations are currently underway with the authorities of both countries to agree on the rules of operation for the projects and identify the areas in which they can have the greatest impact.

The international development cooperation (IDC) actions taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through Amexcid, take a comprehensive approach that focuses on promoting development in the region.

By addressing the structural causes of human mobility, such as poverty, the lack of opportunity and climate change, Mexico promotes strategic cooperation focused on human development, which has a positive impact on the living conditions of the beneficiaries. Mexico's efforts are focused mainly in the Latin American and Caribbean region, and aim to create the conditions that make migration an option and not a necessity.

The cooperation strategy:

• Promotes economic and social development
• Initiates rural development programs
• Trains young people to integrate them into the labor market
• Strengthens productive capacities
• Promotes job creation

Mexico's IDC strategy has already given rise to success stories, as there has been a significant decrease in the intention to migrate among the beneficiaries of the Sembrando Vida project in El Salvador and Honduras, which report a reduction of 91 percent and 87 percent, respectively.

Similarly, the Jóvenes Construyendo el Futuro project in El Salvador and Honduras has led to a 37.7 percent and 28 percent reduction, respectively, in the intention to migrate.

These actions are promoted under the framework of the International Development Cooperation law.