For Mexicans across the border, distances are becoming shorter because of the recently created Web site dedicated to them. The site (http://migrantes.zacatecas.gob) not only makes users feel closer to home, but also seeks to inform, organize and provide statistical data about the Mexican state of Zacatecas.

Amalia García Medina, a state employee, created the Web site, which, she says, will guarantee access to services and programs for immigrants, in addition to state government initiatives.

García also recognized the research undertaken by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Mexico as well as a group of academic researchers, which supplied the Web site with updated information about the population, public services, community, and economy of Zacatecas.

Noé Beltrán Bahena, UNFPA secretary of regional planning and development, explains that the Web site started as part of the State Cooperation Project of the UNFPA Country Program in Mexico, from 2002 to 2006, undertaken by the state’s Population Council and the National Population Council.

Beltrán affirms that the above institutions validated the proposed Web site, after having finalized the initial objectives. She says that the Web site will improve as the team’s work progresses.

Beltrán states that the Web site is a tool that offers all types of information that people from Zacatecas – both inside the country and out – might need about different aspects of their home state. In addition it offers a meeting point for Zacatecans living in the Unites States and institutions that can offer them assistance on both sides of the border.

Finally, Beltrán emphasizes that the Web site is not only for people from Zacatecas, but rather for anyone, Mexican or otherwise, who is looking for information on the state, such as students, researchers, government employees, and anyone interested in understanding the immigration phenomenon.