Migrants in transit through Costa Rica regularly report access to food as a priority need. To address this, IOM is providing both direct assistance to people in situations of vulnerability and building the capacity of government counterparts to sustainably provide food access to migrants This includes:  

• Distributing vouchers at collective shelters and other points of assistance, which can be used at grocery stores to purchase food, or at local restaurants and convenience stores located in zones experiencing high rates of migration. Voucher values will vary based on vulnerability considerations, medical conditions that require a specific diet, and when applicable, family composition. Through this system, beneficiaries will be able to select food items that align with their cultural and personal preferences. 
• Supporting the PPM build their capacity to manage food resources in a sustainable manner, including by optimizing space, and the use of Camp Coordination and Camp Management Protocols. 

Current migration trends and the need for humanitarian assistance in Costa Rica are unprecedented. As such, it is a priority of IOM to build the CCCM capacity of response actors, including the Government of Costa Rica, fellow UN agencies, NGOs and civil society organizations. This effort includes: 

• Training government authorities and other relevant response actors giving frontline assistance (including collective centers managers and administrators) in the management and coordination of temporary shelters and sites, in line with the UN’s inter-agency strategy to build the capacity of relevant authorities preparing for and responding to the needs of people in transit. 
• Facilitating the exchange of best practices and lessons learned in the management, coordination, design and planning of collective centers and other displacement sites, and community participation and feedback mechanisms between government authorities managing transit sites through Central America. 
• Piloting IOM’s Integration Shelter Registry System (SIRA) to anticipate and effectively respond to the needs of migrants in situations of vulnerability, including along the regional migration route. 

IOM facilitates migrants’ access to basic health services, including sexual and reproductive health through the following activities: 

• Improving medical center infrastructure and equipment available at EMISUR.   
• Providing essential medicines to address the urgent health needs of migrants, including through seeking strategic partnerships with public and private entities to reduce costs 
• Supporting medical staffing through salary contributions at EMISUR and at key locations along the transit route, including paediatric and infant care. 
• Supporting bi/tri-national coordination between the relevant authorities in Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia in the prevention, detection and control of communicable diseases in the context of human mobility. 
• Training response actors (both governmental and from civil society) providing direct assistance to migrants in basic first aid. 

To address the mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS)  needs of people in-transit, IOM is: 

• Developing local referral pathways to specialized mental health services (e.g. psychiatric care) for people with severe mental health problems and training response actors (including at different levels of government and civil society) on providing direct assistance to migrants in their use.  
• Training response actors (both governmental and civil society) to identify signs of psychological distress, provide psychological first aid (PFA), including for children and adolescents, and organizing referrals to focused and specialized MHPSS services as needed. 
• Distributing self-help MHPSS tools to people in-transit.  

IOM Costa Rica is strengthening coordination mechanisms, referral pathways and case management services to ensure that migrants in situations of vulnerability have access to protection services. Related activities include: 

• Supporting the operations of the Bi-National Permanent Commission for the Protection and Assistance of Migrants in Vulnerable Conditions, and holding exchange forums between relevant counterparts in Costa Rica and Panama. 
• Strengthening the capacity of the Costa Rican police and prosecutors to collect, manage, exchange and analyse data related to human trafficking that are victim-centric and align with human rights standards.  
• Establishing reporting and referral mechanisms for human trafficking and smuggling of migrants between health and social service providers and security forces for the provision of comprehensive victim assistance.
• Strengthen response actors’ case management capacity for people in-transit, including those in need of protection and training for voluntary return and family reunification resources and procedures. 
• Support the development of gender-based violence risk mitigation strategies, which include considerations for migrants, in border communities and other key locations along the transit route. 
• Map services and develop local referral pathways to protection services and train response actors (including at different levels of government and civil society) providing direct assistance to migrants in their use. 
• Develop and deliver workshops regarding the prevention of trafficking in persons (TiP) and the smuggling of migrants (SoM) to response actors in the Southern Migration Station. 
• Provide advanced training on migrants’ rights, including to access justice, and legal protection mechanisms to university legal clinics assisting people in situations of vulnerability. 
• Support the mainstreaming of protection principles throughout humanitarian assistance, including considerations for the mitigation of GBV risks.

IOM is addressing the WASH needs of migrants in transit through the following activities: 

• Distributing hygiene kits with supplies that are specific to gender and age, including menstruation materials, directly to migrants at shelters or other points of assistance or via partner response organizations.  
• Providing WASH solutions including portable sinks and hand sanitizer dispensers.

IOM supports shelter access for migrants in situations of vulnerability. Specific activities include: 

• Providing support to the PPM to improve the infrastructure of the Center for Temporary Assistance for Migrants (CATEM), which has a capacity to give housing to 280 people in vulnerable situations, and other sections of the EMI Sur being used for temporary shelter. 
• Providing temporary accommodation through implementing partners and a network for safe accommodations in San Jose for migrants in transit, as well at the northern border for individuals in situations of extreme vulnerability. These shelter solutions mainstream gender and accessibility considerations to ensure that housing is safe for all, including women, children, the LGTBIQA+ community, and individuals with special needs. 
• Conducting a diagnostic assessment of existing temporary shelters (operated by both government and civil society partners) in key transit migration locations. 
• Renovating the CATEM and other partner-run shelters to ensure that their conditions promote the safety and well-being of migrants staying there. 
• Support the government in establishing appropriate shelters at Costa Rica’s northern border with Nicaragua.  

IOM Costa Rica promotes that considerations for migrants are incorporated throughout government emergency preparedness and planning efforts, including in front of climate-related challenges. To promote this, IOM Costa Rica focuses on: 

• Enhancing the capacity of government counterparts in protecting and addressing the migrants' needs during crises and meet international obligations (i.e.: aligned with global frameworks), especially in addressing climate-related migration and disaster risk reduction.  
• Delivering IOM training on the Migrants in Countries in Crisis Inititative (MICIC) Guidelines on "Integrating migrants in emergency preparedness, response and recovery in their host countries", including providing the tools and the resources (e.g.: operational guidance) that can be used to design and implement targeted interventions to relevant government counterparts to ensure that migrants in-transit, among other migrant populations, who experience a high level of vulnerability are incorporated in national and local emergency preparedness efforts. 
• Pre-positioning non-food items in key locations along the migration route to prepare for and swiftly address any rapid increase in the number of migrants in-transit through the country. 
• Conducting IOM contingency planning and review processes related to events that could change migration dynamics through the region. 

IOM will support the information needs of response actors by: 

• Expanding its current DTM operations by supporting flow monitoring and surveying at official and unofficial border crossings and transit communities. 
• Conducting surveys to better understand the needs and profiles of migrants in transit. 
• Supporting the compilation of qualitative and quantitative information from different sources, including DGME, key informants, NGOs, PPM , community leaders, and others. 
• Preparing monthly reports of migration flows to inform and update the relevant level of emergency. 
• Prepare different information products to reach broader audiences, such as dashboards, thematic infosheets, and presentations. 
• Supporting the adoption of IOM’s SIRA, by which DGME can manage information on the needs of people entering Costa Rica. 

Limited access to essential resources (including health services and WASH) in migration affected and border communities is a key cause of increased community tensions. IOM will support local stakeholders in Los Chiles, GAM and Paso Canoas to increase their knowledge on the HDPN; link humanitarian assistance with sustainable community-led development interventions; and reinforce positive attitudes, perceptions and behaviours towards migrants. Additionally, IOM Costa Rica is working with local communities to expand the presence of essential services and their sensitivity to the needs of migrant populations. This will be achieved by: 

• Training local actors, including municipal leaders, local emergency commissions, migrant associations, and relevant civil society partners in the implementation of HDPN approaches and the Migration Crisis Operational Framework (MCOF) to inform future policies and programming.  
• ​Developing local plans, in coordination with relevant authorities, development associations and response actors, to strengthen integration between migrant response actions and local development, ensuring support to mobile populations does not take place at the expense of or siloed from local needs and aspirations.  
• ​Conducting awareness-raising workshops with migrants in transit and host community members to validate local action plans.  
• Supporting the decentralization and strengthening of local essential services, including those of the Ministry of Health, the National Women’s Institute, and the National Children’s Foundation.  
• Providing technical assistance and material support to establish an outpost of the Directorate General for Migration at the Northern Border, in Upala. In turn, this will facilitate access to regularization processes, a key first step to accessing other socioeconomic development opportunities for migrants. 
• ​Developing a best-practices guide for local media outlets  on language-use and framing of migration issues in the news to prevent the possibility that reporting on migration dynamics contributes to misinformation and xenophobia, 
• ​Training local media outlets on developed best-practices guide for reporting on migration with a human rights, gender, and non-discrimination perspective. 
• Strengthening relationships between local law enforcement and communities through the development of local violence prevention plans, which include strengthening channels for communication and exchange and small-scale community improvement initiatives.

To improve the quality, continuity and efficiency of health care services accessible to migrants along the Central American migration route, IOM Costa Rica is strengthening the national health system’s capacity to provide migrant-sensitive care, support disease surveillance and respond to emerging health events. This includes: 

• Piloting an electronic personal health record (e-PHR) system for people in-transit to manage their health information and facilitate their access to more effective health care along the migratory route. 
• Implementing an alert mechanism to report detected communicable diseases or health events of concern to national and regional public health authorities. 
• Supporting the development of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for providing care that is sensitive to the specific needs and vulnerabilities of migrants and other people on the move, including indigenous people, with an age and gender perspective. 
• Training health professionals, support staff, and administration staff in target health facilities in the implementation of SOPs for providing migrant-sensitive health care.
• Developing a toolkit for promoting the adoption of SOPs and monitoring and evaluating how health facilities are providing care that is sensitive to migrants, people on the move, including displaced populations and indigenous people.