Sexual. Women and girls in the region continue to be impacted

Women and girls in the region continue to be impacted by reduced educational opportunities and job access.

Table 2. Development Indicators

	Belize	Costa Rica	Dominican Republic	El Salvador	Guatemala	Honduras	Nicaragua	Panama
GNP percapita (in US $)	3110	3810	2130	2000	1680	860	400	3260
Total population (millions)	0.2	3.8	8.4	6.3	11.4	6.4	5.1	2.9
% Female	49.6	50.1	49.2	50.9	49.6	49.7	50.2	49.5
Female Primary enrollment rate (%)	99	89	N/A	87	80	N/A	N/A	N/A
Youth illiteracy (male) (% aged 15-24)	2.7	2	9.6	11	14.5	17.8	29	2.8
Youth illiteracy (female)	1.3	1.4	8.1	12.6	27.2	15.4	27.7	3.6
Female labor (%)	24	31	31	37	29	32	36	35
Female unemployment	20.3	8.2	N/A	6	N/A	3.8	14.5	16.9

Source: World Bank, Statistics for 2000.

Migration Flows

In the last ten years, the Central American states have experienced migration phenomena at all levels. A rural to urban transfer has largely resulted from a weakening agricultural sector and the move to larger cities in search of work. Intra regional migration patterns also emerged.

Nicaraguans flowed in significant number to Costa Rica such that currently, some eight percent of the population of Costa Rica is comprised of Nicaraguan nationals. The temporary and permanent movement from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala into Belize has also been recorded.

The figures from the 2000 census in Belize show that the foreign born population in the country (just under 14% of the total population) is comprised of Guatemalans (42.5%), Salvadorans (17.6%) and Hondurans (14%). Finally, migration outside the region to Mexico, the United States and Canada has also increased.

The strongest and most visible migration in the region is to the United States. Movement of all kinds occurs alongside the land route north. Some of the more obvious migrations include the following:

. Nicaragua has experienced significant emigration, with its citizens destined for Costa Rica and points north (Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and the United States). The migration is both legal and illegal. Nicaraguans have constituted roughly 3% of the Central Americans apprehended by immigration authorities along the southwest border of the United States from 1999-2001.