Challenge statement
Challenge type: If you are working on multiple challenges, please indicate if this is your "big bet" or "exploratory" challenge.
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EXPLORATORY
Challenge statement: What is your challenge? (Please answer in specific terms: "Our challenge is that...”.)
The challenge is the migration crisis and its effects on social cohesion, livelihoods and multidimensional poverty on indigenous communities in the Comarca Emberá - Wounaan. There is a knowledge gap in terms of community perspectives, challenges and responses to these dynamics; as well as local worldviews, knowledge and practices on this issue that could be starting points to strengthen the development and humanitarian nexus.
Background: What is the history of your challenge? What is causing or driving it? Who is involved? How does the current situation look like? What undesired effects does it produce?
The Territorial Context of Host Communities
In 2023 alone, 500,000 were reported to have passed through communities in the Emberá-Wounaan Territory on their way north, primarily to the United States (SNM, 2023). This regional, national, and local context calls for an understanding of how these various dynamics can be addressed from a systemic perspective that considers the relationships among different actors at national and regional levels, but also between local communities and the State, including the territories impacted by these migration flows, such as the Emberá-Wounaan Territory and the communities of Bajo Chiquito and Canaán.
The Emberá Territory: A Place Where Two Governance Models and Worldviews Converge
The Emberá-Wounaan Territory has an autonomous governance system led by Traditional Authorities. The highest authority is the General Cacique, who heads the General Congress, with delegates from each community. Each region is under the executive authority of a Regional Cacique, and each community is represented by a leader or noko. The nokoras are grouped in the Nokoras Council, which serves as an advisory body to the General Congress.
This traditional and autonomous governance system overlaps with the national (non-indigenous) system and the political-administrative divisions present in the rest of the country. The territory is organized into districts and townships, governed by mayors and representatives (respectively), elected by popular vote in general elections. This creates a complex internal political dynamic in practice between the State and the traditional autonomous governance structure of the Emberá-Wounaan Territory.
In addition to governance and political considerations, the Emberá and Wounaan peoples have a culture deeply rooted in their relationship with rivers and the forest, as indicated in the 2022-2027 five-year plan elaborated by the Emberá - Wounaan Congress. However, this culture appears to be waning due to closer contact with Western society, including easier access to communities by land, the availability of communication media, rural to urban migration - and the current migration crisis that this region is facing.
Demographics and Incidence of Multidimensional Poverty in the Emberá-Wounaan Territory
The Emberá-Wounaan Territory, created in 1983, includes Emberá communities (80% of the population) and Wounaan communities (17%), along with a smaller proportion of 3% non-indigenous population. It has the lowest population density among the provinces and territories of Panama, with 3 people per km² (compared to 55 nationwide). It is a very young population: the territory has the second-highest proportion (41%) of people under 15 years old, following the Ngäbe-Buglé Territory, compared to 25% nationally, according to the latest census data (INEC, 2023).
The Emberá population primarily resides in Colombia (where approximately 200,000 people live) and Panama (62,000 people). In Panama, they are almost equally distributed in the Darién region, between the province of the same name, the Emberá-Wounaan Territory, and Panama Province. The Territory is home to just under 20% of those who identify as Emberá and Wounaan (12,000 out of 62,000), according to the latest census (INEC, 2023).
The latest available data (Social Cabinet/MIDES and UNDP, 2024) indicates a 62% rate of multidimensional poverty in the Emberá-Wounaan Territory, a reduction of 16 percentage points between 2019 and 2022 and the lowest rate among indigenous territories in Panama. However, 81% of the population aged 0-17 lives in multidimensional poverty (UNDP, 2023), and only 4.2% of the population has access to basic services such as potable water, electricity, and sanitation.
In terms of mortality, the rate in 2020 was 335.6 per 100,000 live births, and for children under 5 years, it is 10.8 per 1,000 live births. Despite the reduction in multidimensional poverty, the Emberá-Wounaan Territory remains one of the most disadvantaged areas in the country, and it is within this territory that host communities for the migrant population are located.
The communities of Bajo Chiquito and Canaán are situated in Cémaco, one of the two regions of the Emberá-Wounaan Territory within Darién Province, bordering Colombia and the Gunayala Territory. Cémaco is also a district composed of three townships, including Lajas Blancas, where the two communities we have worked with are located. In the township of Lajas Blancas, there is a registered population of 5,156 inhabitants and a multidimensional poverty incidence of 93%. The most affected dimensions are job insecurity with 87 points, waste management with 92, educational attainment with 63, and overcrowding with 45.
Bajo Chiquito and Canaán
The communities of Bajo Chiquito and Canaán (Canaán Membrillo) were founded in 1965 and 1975, respectively. Currently, Bajo Chiquito has 495 inhabitants in 151 households, and Canaán has 397 people in 80 households (INEC, 2023). These communities, known as “host communities,” receive people who have crossed the Darién jungle between Colombia and Panama.
Both communities have basic services such as schools, health centers, community centers; and in more recent decades, National Border Service (SENAFRONT) stations, and more personnel from the Ministries of Health, especially due to the migration flows. This goes in hand with a growing international cooperation organizations presence, including IOM, UNHCR, UNICEF, and the Red Cross, which provide medical and humanitarian assistance, with direct and indirect benefits for local communities.
The infrastructure supporting migrants and local communities include latrines, showers and documentation areas. While communities have also developed a services infrastructure for migrants, from communication services (WiFi, cellphone chargers, etc.), shops, and restaurants. Over time, additional water reserve tanks, water treatment plants, and uncontrolled solid waste dumps have been added.
Access to Bajo Chiquito varies by season: in the dry season, access is via alternate routes and a temporary bridge over the Chucunaque River, while in the rainy season, access is via the Tuquesa River by canoe from Lajas Blancas. Similarly, access to Canaán in the dry season is via the Pan-American Highway through Puerto Limón, and in the rainy season, access is via the Membrillo River. However, most migrants, even during the dry season use the river routes, as that is the official route established in agreement between the central government and the local communities.
Quantitative evidence: What (official) data sources do you have on this challenge that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge? You can add text, a link, or a picture.
During the last decade, more than 1 million migrants have passed through the Darien gap. Most of these have passed through the communities such as Canaán and Bajo Chiquito, communities that, based on the latest census, do not go over 400 to 800 inhabitants. In addition, these are communities that have been historically marginalized, with multidimensional poverty indicators that remark pre-existing community challenges that are now exacerbated due to an increased demand for basic services such as water and sanitation. All of this together with the exorbitant increase of new economic activities, mostly focused on services provided to migrants, including boat logistics, lodging, food and communications.
These economic activities collide with others such as the timber industry (which has depleted the local biodiversity and increased vulnerability to extreme climate events); as well as and those associated with organized crime groups in this bordering region with Colombia. The complex interplay of these dynamics has often stigmatized communities such as Canaán and Bajo Chiquito, which have had limited participation in decision making processes and the voices of their perspectives, challenges, local actions and aspirations have historically been left out.
Qualitative evidence: What weak signals have you recently spotted that characterizes its urgency? Please provide qualitative information that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge. You can add text, a link, or a picture.
The migration crisis in Darien has caught massive media attention and there are many in-depth analyses that have been conducted to understand migration flows and dynamics at a national and regional level. However, there is very little understood about local dynamics and effects on local communities in the Darien region.
The Emberá Wounaan Congress has expressed that migration is something that is a new challenge in their internal rules and procedures, while they often feel left out on decision making processes. There are increasing conflicts between communities that 'compete' for the provision of services (and the need for local services) to and with migrants and often times, it is the Emberá Wounaan Congress that has to deal with these.
In addition, in communities many people are changing their livelihoods from working on the land to supporting the service demands from migrants. There are signals that young people are returning to the community due to these economic opportunities and certain empowerment of young and adult women that are also supporting the service demands, with also signals of gender violence due to the apparent change in gender norms.
In contrast, older people have been affected as many of the traditional ways of living are rapidly changing, noise, pollution and lost of local culture bring nostalgia and sadness as they feel the local culture is being lost. In the midst of this, there is a need to go deeper into these signals and perspectives, given that, beyond the challenges, there is still a strong sense of belonging, identity and culture in Canaán and Bajo Chiquito, as well as local community actions that are often left under the radar and have a strong potential be starting points to building a stronger link between the humanitarian response and the local, sustainable development of these communities and the region.
Value proposition: What added value or unique value proposition is your Accelerator Lab bringing to solving this challenge? Why is it your Lab that needs to work on this challenge and not other actors within UNDP, other stakeholders in the country respectively? Why is it worth investing resources to this challenge?
The R&D approach of the accelerator labs has been valuable in generating ethnographic insights through an active listening approach under the principles of Free, prior and informed consent that brings in a grassroots approach to tackling the complex challenge that the migration crisis represents, identifying key starting points to build more resilient communities that strengthen the humanitarian and development nexus. Given that this is a short-term intervention, the R&D approach of the labs help make sense of complexity, explore key dynamics and propose key starting points for transformative change.
Short “tweet” summary: We would like to tweet what you are working on, can you summarize your challenge in a maximum of 280 characters?
The AccLab in Panama has conducted an active listening process to generate ethnographic insights to bring a grassroots approach to the migration crisis in Darien, identifying starting points to build more resilient communities that strengthen de humanitarian & development nexus.
Partners
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the partner:
Ministry of Foreign Relations
What sector does our partner belong to?
Government (&related)
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
The Ministry of Foreign Relations expressed interest in undertanding the effects of migration flows for local communities and the identification of opportunities to increase the resilience of local communities. The ministry assigned a focal point to facilitate interinstitutional coordination, especially with the Ministry of Security for activities on the ground; as well as other relevant government actors such as local institutions, Comarca Emberá Wounaan governors and others.
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
No
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the partner:
OIM & Human Mobility Group
What sector does our partner belong to?
United Nations
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
IOM and the Human Mobility Group (GMH) facilitated the coordination of interviews and focus groups with different UN Agencies and international cooperation organizations at the national and local level, which as key to access different sources of data and perspectives, as well as an integrated understanding of local actions on the ground.
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
No
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the partner:
Emberá - Wounaan Congress
What sector does our partner belong to?
Government (&related)
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
The Emberá - Wounaan Congress is the traditional government structure of the Comarca Emberá Wounaan. They provided the consent to conduct this R&D process, as well as the delegation of a focal point, the president of the congress of Nokoras (local authorities) to participate throughout the
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
No
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the partner:
GeoIndígena
What sector does our partner belong to?
Civil Society
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
GeoIndígena is an indigenous NGO that focuses on the use of GIS technologies to support indigenous territories to strengthen their capabilities for the protection and vigilance of forests, as well as territorial planning and local governance activities in indigenous territories.
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
Yes
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the partner:
Almanaque Azul
What sector does our partner belong to?
Civil Society
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
Almanaque Azul, in partnership with GeoIndigena, are the responsible parties of UNDP on the ground to lead the development of this R&D process. They are an NGO that focuses on education and research to protect the natural and cultural biodiversity of Panama.
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
Yes
Learning questions
Learning question: What is your learning question for this challenge? What do you need to know or understand to work on your challenge statement?
What are the community perspectives on the migration crisis in the Emberá Wounaan territory?
To what stage(s) in the learning cycle does your learning question relate?
Sense, Explore
Usage of methods: Relating to your choice above, how will you use your methods & tools for this learning question? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
The ethnographic process consists of conducting active listening, in-depth interviews and focus groups to build a collective perspective on the community's history; current challenges, local actions and aspirations. This collective intelligence approach will also integrate the perspectives, data and insights from institutional actors, UN agencies on the ground, as well as international cooperation organizations that have involved in the response to the migration crisis in the Darien region.
Existing data gaps: Relating to your choice above, what existing gaps in data or information do these new sources of data addressing? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
Through this process, we will being and work always with the principle of Free, prior and informed consent. We will conduct in-depth interviews with key national and local actors and focus groups in the communities of Canaán and Bajo Chiquito, the expected results are to build a community timeline built through the oral memory of the community, a community map showing key information that the community identifies as relevant for others to know and the mapping of key issues and potential solutions based on community knowledge and practices, as well as government and human mobility group actions on the ground, always through a participatory and collective approach that facilitate the information flows of key information for all actors involved throughout the process, always under a free, prior and informed consent of local communities.
11Sustainable cities and communities
16Peace, justice and strong institutions
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