Mexico United 2026

Mexico United 2026, a project funded by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Office of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), aims to strengthen Mexico’s capacity to identify, prevent, and mitigate the impacts of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on the realization of labor rights and human rights guarantees. Through this project, Partners of the Americas’ (POA) will work to significantly reduce the risk of labor abuses and human rights violations that may arise as a result of the World Cup by increasing workers’ knowledge of labor law and international labor standards relevant to the event. To achieve this goal, POA is collaborating with local labor rights organizations, Centro de Reflexión y Acción Laboral (CEREAL), Centro de Los Derechos del Migrante (CDM), and Red de Mujeres Sindicalistas (RMS), and works closely with national and local governments and semi-autonomous institutions. Mexico United 2026 will target three cities where the United 2026 World Cup will take place in Mexico: Monterrey, Guadalajara, and Mexico City.

From 2020 to 2023, the Mexico United 2026 project will seek to increase engagement and coordination between labor rights organizations, the private sector, and independent unions. The project will help entities, such as the Government of Mexico, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) address and mitigate labor risks associated with the event and will strengthen the capacity of stakeholders and workers to effectively monitor and report human rights abuses. Lastly, in preparation for the United 2026 World Cup, the project will work with civil society organizations to develop a media campaign to increase awareness among the general public of Mexico’s commitments to human rights in regard to the United 2026 World Cup and the labor rights risks associated with the sporting event.

Gift of the United States Government

7 Workshops on labor rights held for workers and human rights defenders
74 Workers and human rights defenders trained in labor and human rights
11 Organizations trained in labor rights violation grievance mechanisms
2 Networks of organizations defending labor human rights formed