Preventing Irregular Child and Youth Migration in Central America

The project aims to improve the well-being of children and youth in five countries (El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Mexico and Nicaragua) whom are at-risk of irregular migration. The project addresses the poverty exclusion and lack of opportunities that have forced tens of thousands of children and young people (between the ages of 6 and 24) many of them girls to flee Central America in the past several years. Many of these irregular migrants encounter violence and sexual exploitation both in their home countries and on the perilous journey north through Mexico toward the U.S. Through an empowering community-based approach the project seeks to provide safe and positive alternatives designed to keep children and young people in their home communities. Project activities include: (1) improving child protection services and violence prevention programs at the community level; (2) improving the employment potential for at-risk youth; and (3) building the capacity of youth to advocate for their own protection in light of the risks of irregular child migration. Children and young adults can therefore be active participants in their own protection.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved use of gender-responsive child protection services and violence prevention programs at the community level that integrate the specific needs and interests of girls and boys adolescents and young women and young men; (2) improved employment skills and experience for at-risk young women and young men to participate on equal terms in sustainable income generating activities; and (3) improved gender-responsive leadership in young women and young men on equal terms to inform and influence regional and national decision-makers and the national public on how to address irregular child migration and the specific risks faced by girls and boys because of gender inequalities.