By 2020, more than 16 million people from Central America, Mexico and the Dominican Republic were documented living outside their countries, making it crucial for governments in the region to have reliable and updated data for informed decision-making and effective migration management.   

In this context, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) created the Regional Platform for Migration Information (PRIMI) in 2019. This aims to strengthen capacities for the generation, systematization and access to information, making migration data generated by governments in the region available to decision-makers and the public.   

Three years later and recognizing that States still experience numerous obstacles in obtaining, managing and using this data, the IOM organized the workshop “Benefits and areas of opportunity to strengthen PRIMI”, in order to promote a technical analysis of the platform, its strengths and weaknesses. The activity was held in San José, Costa Rica, on June 15 and 16, 2022 and was attended by representatives from 12 countries in the region.  

Among the failures detected in the platform were problems with data comparison and consistency, deficiencies in the training of the personnel in charge and lack of inter-institutional coordination.   

In order to generate a strategy to address these weaknesses of the platform and take measures to ensure its sustainability, the event allowed participants to identify the capacities of each government for the generation and submission of statistical data and to share the different uses they make of the data, in addition to providing recommendations for strengthening PRIMI.   

PRIMI supports the achievement of Goal 1 of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Governance Framework on Migration, which establishes an international commitment to collect data for evidence-based policymaking.   

For more than 30 years, various efforts have been made to generate a system that centralizes the main statistical data on migration in the region. This reflects the complexity of the task, but also that it is a continuing need. IOM now aims to strengthen PRIMI in order to develop a system that responds to the countries' information needs in a relevant and sustainable manner.  

This activity was carried out within the framework of IOM's Regional Program on Migration, funded by the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the United States Department of State.