A forgotten crisis: The challenges of implementing a gender-based humanitarian intervention in the Darien

This research paper offers an analysis of the evolution and current status of the humanitarian response for transit migrants in the Darien province as of 2023, focusing on the complications in the consistent implementation of a gender approach. Through a qualitative interviewing methodology used in interviews with nine humanitarian actors, this research reveals the challenges to humanitarian interventions brought by the lack of proper coordination between agencies,the transit status of this migrant population, and the absence of state presence. Moreover, it identifies that such challenges further hinder the ability to integrate a comprehensive gender approach in the humanitarian response due to the lack of an inter-organizational agreement on what such an approach entails and how it should be implemented for this particular transit migrant population. Finally, it offers a reflection on what further actions could be taken by humanitarian organizations in the field to respond to the challenges that the rapid increase in this migratory flow may represent for the humanitarian field in the near future.