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Panama

The ICRC has been working in Panama since 1989. In 2010, the organization signed a headquarters agreement with the Panamanian government, which enabled us to establish a mission in the country. In 2023, this mission became part of the Regional Delegation for Mexico and Central America.

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An ICRC staff member in discussion with Sembrando Paz vivarium manager at La Joya prison, Panama City.

Our work in Panama

The ICRC seeks to assist and protect the most vulnerable people and to ensure that their dignity and fundamental rights are respected.

 

We work together with other members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to meet the needs of migrants crossing the Darien Gap, in particular by providing support to our main operational partner in the country, the Red Cross Society of Panama. 

Our work in Panama is supported by our regional delegation in Mexico, which also covers the ICRC’s humanitarian activities in Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Belize. For more information, please visit the Mexico page.

Our services in Panama

  • The ICRC seeks to ensure that states fulfil their obligations to protect the lives, preserve the dignity and alleviate the suffering of vulnerable migrants through confidential dialogue with the authorities and security forces, raising awareness of applicable law and increasing awareness of the vulnerabilities associated with migration.

  • Together with National Societies, the ICRC’s Central Tracing Agency has developed a Restoring Family Links Network that helps prevent people from disappearing or getting separated and works to restore and maintain contact between family members whenever possible. It also tries to help establish the fate and whereabouts of people reported missing.

  • The ICRC provides humanitarian forensic support to promote best practices and standards so that human remains are handled in a proper and dignified manner, the death is documented, and the person is identified if possible. Human remains are repatriated when possible or given a proper burial, the families are notified and official death certificates are issued.

  • The ICRC may provide direct relief or help migrants access services provided by other National Societies or the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

  • The ICRC raises awareness of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, in coordination with National Societies. We maintain bilateral technical cooperation on these bodies of law with the Panamanian authorities, including with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Contact us

Address

Calle Gonzalo Crance No.165, Ciudad del Saber, Clayton, Panama

Telephone

+507 370 4881

Opening Hours:

8am–5pm

Write to us

Media contact

Ms Marcela MÉNDEZ MARTÍNEZ

Telephone

+52 55 2755 1794
Contact

Our work with the Red Cross Society of Panama

The ICRC works closely with the Red Cross Society of Panama to provide family-links services, which have been a source of comfort and relief for thousands of migrants and their families in many countries. We have worked with forensic specialists to identify dead people and give families seeking answers the opportunity to mourn.

The ICRC trains the National Society on the Safer Access Framework, which aims to help staff and volunteers respond effectively and safely to the needs of people in complex and potentially dangerous situations, such as the protests that shook Panama in July 2022.

Go to the Red Cross page