Latin America & The Caribbean Weekly Situation Update (15-21 August 2022) as of 22 August 2022

CENTRAL AMERICA & MEXICO: MIGRANTS & REFUGEES

Since January 2022, the number of migrants and refugees in Central America and Mexico has increased considerably compared to previous years. As per official data, irregular migration has increased by 85% in Panama, 108% in Mexico, and 689% in Honduras.

As migration through the region continues to soar, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is launching an emergency appeal for US$29.2 million to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to some 210,000 people on the move northwards through Central America and Mexico. The appeal will back Red Cross response in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico for 12 months. Red Cross operations in these countries will provide migrants, refugees, returnees and people in host communities with health care, psychosocial support, access to water and sanitation services and cash assistance to cover essential needs, such as accommodation or food.

KEY FIGURES

US$29.2M - IFRC APPEAL TO PROVIDE 210KPEOPLE WITH LIFE-SAVING ASSISTANCE AND PROTECTION IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND MEXICO

Sources:

• IFRC

GUATEMALA: FOOD INSECURITY

With Guatemala in the midst of its lean season, officials say some 4.6 million people currently require food assistance, four times as many as in 2019. In at least 10 of Guatemala’s 22 departments, more than 25 per cent of the population is suffering from food insecurity, with families forced to reduce food rations or skip meals altogether. These 10 departments (Alta Verapaz, Quiché, Izabal, Petén, Totonicapán, Huehuetenango, Sololá, Chiquimula, Zacapa and Sololá, Chiquimula, Zacapa and Quetzaltenango, in descending order of severity) are also home to more than 40 per cent of the country’s acutely undernourished children.

Food security analysis highlights that undernutrition is becoming increasingly common in urban areas, as opposed to the traditional remote and rural settings, amid internal migration and growing poverty, falling incomes and limited health service access in urban outskirts.

KEY FIGURES

4.6M PEOPLE IN NEED OF FOOD ASSISTANCE IN GUATEMALA IN 2022

Sources:

• Government of Guatemala (SIISAN)

• IPC

REGIONAL: "I LEND MY VOICE" CAMPAIGN

To mark World Humanitarian Day (19 August), the OCHA Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC), OCHA Country Offices and humanitarian partners in the region launched the #DoyMiVoz ("I Lend My Voice") campaign, which aims to show how aid workers come together in a collective effort to alleviate extreme need and lend their voice for the people affected by various humanitarian crises.

The campaign will run until 31 August, and the public is invited to follow #DoyMiVoz #ILendMyVoice on social media and to show support by sharing and "liking" the posts. Twitter: @UNOCHA_Americas