Located on the isthmus between Latin and South America, Panama is a critically important country for RET. Due to its geographic location, the country is a nexus for migration.

In recent years there has been an influx of Venezuelan people in flight and exile, as well as Ecuadorians, Colombians and other nationalities crossing the Darién jungle in transit to the United States. A small proportion of people in flight and exile and asylum seekers from these countries, as well as Central Americans, Nicaraguans, Salvadorans, and Hondurans, are looking to stay in the country.

Panama is also home to the administrative center for RET’s Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) operations.

RET has been operating in Panama for over a decade, and in that time, we’ve opened 20 facilities across our dozens of projects.

As an organization, RET was initially created in response to the situation of Colombian persons in need of protection and subsequently was expanded to include people in flight and exile and refugees of other nationalities. In service of this mission, from 2009–2020, we implemented a comprehensive response program for people on the move in Panama. Highlights of this work inlcude:

Reaching approximately 20,000 individuals (60% women) with psychosocial support, legal advice, educational guidance, livelihoods, and socio-cultural integration, and

Achieving significant success at an institutional level, including the establishment of a protocol for unaccompanied children and a regulation, Decree 1225, on continuation in education.

In response to the emergency in Darién, we have been working on three UNICEF-funded projects since 2021. These projects have so far benefited 13,863 people. In concrete terms, they have:

Provided protective environments for Venezuelan girls, boys, and adolescents and their refugee families, as well as those in flight and exile, in Panamá Oeste during the COVID-19 pandemic and post-COVID;

Provided protection services as well as nutrition and sanitation services for people in flight and exile and host community girls, boys, and adolescents and their families at the migrant reception stations in the province of Darién and the Emberá indigenous region;

Provided protection from-, prevention of-, care for victims of violence (community and family), specifically for people in flight and exile and host community girls, boys, and adolescents and their families at the migrant reception stations in the province of Darién and the Emberá-Wounaan indigenous region.

Since 2018, RET has worked as an implementing partner with UNHCR. At present, we are working to promote access to law and local integration for refugees, people in flight and exile, and host community children, adolescents and youth, which has so far benefited 899 girls, boys, and adolescents in Panama City and Darién.

On a more localized level in 2022, we helped refugees, people in flight and exile, and host community children, adolescents and youth through our RETArte strategy to strengthen these group’s leadership skills and their capacity as agents of social change in their communities. Activities were also carried out to promote citizen participation of indigenous adolescents and youth.

In close coordination with government authorities, youth movements, and civil society organizations, the project featured workshops on multiple topics, including teamwork, argumentation, debate, leadership, Panamanian culture, art and theater, and prevention of community violence. It also included recreational activities like artistic exploration.

RET coordinates with humanitarian agencies and organizations in Panama through the Human Mobility Group (GMH) led by UNHCR/IOM. The purpose of this group is to increase efficiency, encourage coordination between partners and interventions in the territories, avoid the duplication of efforts, and facilitate the identification and referral of vulnerable cases.

In terms of high-level coordination, RET is part of the Human Mobility Plus Group led by the United Nations Resident Coordinator with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama. This group focuses on consolidating and coordinating the different efforts to support the humanitarian response provided by the agencies, funds, and programs (AFP) that are part of the GMH, as well as the different international and civil society organizations that participate in these actions, to prioritize existing resources and strengthen joint advocacy in relation to the authorities.

RET is a member of several platforms and working groups related to the protection and integration of people in flight and exile, refugees, and asylum seekers in Panama, including:

R4V, or Plataforma de Coordinación Interagencial para Refugiados y Migrantes de Venezuela. This group was developed as a coordinated response to the Venezuelan migrant and refugee population. RET is co-leader with UNHCR in the Education sector.

At the governmental level, we coordinate and support the work of the National Office of Refugee Affairs (ONPAR) to improve assistance during the asylum application process and local integration processes.

We also work with the Secretaría Nacional de Niñez, Adolescencia y Familia (National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and Family), or SENNIAF, on issues related to violence against children and adolescents and the observance of children’s rights.

To coordinate action to facilitate access and continuation in the educational system for students in need of international protection, we work with the Panama Ministry of Education (MEDUCA).

And the National Ministry of Women’s Affairs, as well as with other government agencies – with whom RET works on issues related to the protection of victims of community and family violence.

RET is also a member of the following civil society networks:

• Aliados por la Niñez y la Adolescencia” (Partners for Childhood and Adolescence)

• Observatorio de los Derechos de la Niñez y la Adolescencia (Observatory of Children’s and Adolescents’ Rights), or ODENA.