1. Cooperation in State Initiatives to Promote Integration in Member States of RCM San José, February 23, 2012 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 1 family forced to flee is too much.

2. Refugees in Costa Rica: 12,571 refugees of more than 40 nationalities 10,297 refugees from Colombia 964 persons applied for refugee status in 2011 1 family forced to flee is too much.

3. Objectives for the Integration of Refugees To promote self-sufficiency of refugees and ensure their participation in designing support programmes; Equal access to services in the receiving country; To strengthen spaces for experience-sharing between refugees and the receiving society. 1 family forced to flee is too much.

4. To support existing efforts and institutions, and not to generate parallel systems for refugees; To meet the specific needs of individuals according to age, gender, ethnic origin, etc. 1 family forced to flee is too much. 1 family forced to flee is too much.

5. Current Challenges relating to Integration: Economic Integration: Documents, access to labour markets, acknowledging academic degrees, access to health care, access to housing; Social Integration: Discrimination, lack of knowledge of the situations of refugees; Cultural Integration: Participation in local organizations, promoting spaces for experience-sharing. 1 family forced to flee is too much.

6. Cooperation for Integration: “1+1 hacemos Costa Rica” Campaign “Rutas de Integración” (Integration Routes) and “Entre Vecinos” (Among Neighbours) Projects “Lazos sin Fronteras” (Bonds without Borders) Project 1 family forced to flee is too much.

7. Future Challenges: To ensure that programmes and initiatives have differentiated approaches; To continue working toward refining criteria and approaches on how to promote and assess the level of integration of refugees in the country; To join efforts to reach key institutions with the aim of enabling refugees to gain timely access to the services that they need to be able to integrate. 1 family forced to flee is too much.