Cooperation in State Initiatives to Promote Integration in Member States of RCM

San José, February 23, 2012

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

1 family forced to fleeis too much.

Refugees in Costa Rica:

• 12,571 refugees of more than 40 nationalities• 10,297 refugees from Colombia• 964 persons applied for refugee status in 2011

1 family forced to fleeis too much.

Objectives for the Integration of Refugees

• To promote self-sufficiency of refugees and ensure their participation in designing support programmes;

• Equal access to services in the receiving country;

• To strengthen spaces for experience-sharing between refugees and the receiving society.

1 family forced to fleeis too much.

• To support existing efforts and institutions, and not to generate parallel systems for refugees;

• To meet the specific needs of individuals according to age, gender, ethnic origin, etc.

1 family forced to fleeis too much.1 family forced to fleeis too much.

Current Challenges relating to Integration: • Economic Integration: Documents, access to labour markets,

acknowledging academic degrees, access to health care, access to housing;

• Social Integration: Discrimination, lack of knowledge of the situations of refugees;

• Cultural Integration: Participation in local organizations, promoting spaces for experience-sharing.

1 family forced to fleeis too much.

Cooperation for Integration:

• “1+1 hacemos Costa Rica” Campaign

• “Rutas de Integración” (Integration Routes) and “Entre Vecinos” (Among Neighbours) Projects

• “Lazos sin Fronteras” (Bonds without Borders) Project

1 family forced to fleeis too much.

Future Challenges:• To ensure that programmes and initiatives have differentiated

approaches;

• To continue working toward refining criteria and approaches on

how to promote and assess the level of integration of refugees in the country;

• To join efforts to reach key institutions with the aim of enabling refugees to gain timely access to the services that they need to be able to integrate.

1 family forced to fleeis too much.