Within the framework of the Panama-Costa Rica Border Agreement, coordinated by the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy (Mideplan) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Panama (MEF), binational meetings were held during the last week of May 2024, which took place in Paso Canoas and Cahuita.

The first meeting took place at the facilities of the Ministry of Health in Paso Canoas and was the IV Meeting of the Binational Executive Technical Unit for Protection and Assistance to Migrants in Vulnerable Conditions (UTEB- COPPAMI), in which the migratory trends of the transit flow through the Americas presented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) were analyzed.

The impact on the mental health of migrants and public officials who attend these migratory flows was also examined; in addition, the issue of illicit trafficking and migratory routes was discussed to identify protection services at the cross-border level, as well as the issue of the gender approach in cross-border management, among other aspects.

On the other hand, the XIX Meeting of the Coordinating Committee of the Binational Executive Technical Unit for the management of the Costa Rica Panama Friendship International Park (UTEB-PILA) was held in Cahuita, in which the progress of the binational projects that are executed in the PILA was presented, such as: “Linking Landscapes Program” and the “Integrated Water Resources Management Project in the Sixaola Binational Basin, shared by Panama and Costa Rica.”

In addition, the priorities and binational projects that contribute to the Binational Management Plan, river monitoring and biomonitoring plans, among others, were identified.

Both executive secretariats of the border agreement, coordinated by the Mideplan and MEF, actively intervened in these activities, following up and advising the Binational Technical Commissions, as established in the agreement between the two countries.