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IOM Introduces Strategic Programme to Benefit Migrant Children in Honduras

Honduras - This week IOM presented to the Honduran Government a "Strategic Programme on Comprehensive Assistance for Honduran Children, Adolescent Migrants and Their Families", which aims to support the coordination of government institutions, civil society and international organizations involved in the reception, protection and assistance process of migrant children and their families returning to the country.

IOM prepared the strategy that addresses the needs identified by the Honduran Government, following a request from the Department of Children, Youth and Family (DINAF by its Spanish acronym).

Through the development of a strategic programme, IOM is helping to articulate and strengthen interagency efforts, both at the national and local level, in order to provide a comprehensive and coordinated response from a human rights and gender approach.

According to official data, child population in Honduras is nearly 4 million.  More than 10,000 children and adolescents were returned from Mexico and the United States in 2014; of this total approximately 40 per cent were girls and young women.

According to national and international regulations, children require special protection, including proper medical care, shelter, food and sanitation, and protection of their human rights and security.

"This programme identifies different lines of action in order to provide a comprehensive response to the needs of migrant children.  It also aims to strengthen prevention approach to lessen the negative impact that the entire migration and return experience has on children and adolescents,” explains Lolis Salas, Executive Director of the DINAF.

IOM and DINAF worked together to develop a comprehensive vision that encompasses the point of origin, as well as transit and destination and return and reintegration, including assistance, protection and prevention.  IOM also aims to implement policies supporting gradual reduction of irregular migration of children and families in Honduras.

The Strategic Programme includes effective management and monitoring guidelines in comprehensive care for migrant children, based on an approach of human rights and applicable within five years.

IOM will implement this initiative through its Mesoamerica Programme "Strengthening Capacities for Protecting and Assisting Migrants in Vulnerable Conditions in Mesoamerica", funded by the US Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM).

“This programme has been the result of a joint effort with DINAF and, with contributions from various institutions and civil society organizations in the field.  IOM is committed to continue supporting the Government of Honduras in implementing this effort,” said Sofia Salas, IOM Regional Coordinator.

The strategy presented by the IOM also includes strengthening the government’s response capacity to the needs of migrant children in situations of greater vulnerability, particularly unaccompanied children, victims of commercial sexual exploitation, and trafficking victims.

The programme was presented to the First Lady, Ana García de Hernández, and DINAF officials, as well as to government counterparts in the Task Force for Migrant Children, NGOs, international cooperation agencies and civil society.

For more information, please contact Karen Arita, IOM Honduras, Tel: +504 2220-1100 ext. 1625.  Email:karita@iom.int