Guatemala-Mexico Second Binational Workshop Project on “The Protection of the Rights of Unaccompanied Migrant Children”
Guatemala-Mexico Second Binational Workshop Project on “The Protection of the Rights of Unaccompanied Migrant Children”
The Guatemala “Mexico Second Binational Workshop took place in Ciudad de Mexico on 3- 4 October 2011, within the framework of the project on the “Protection of the Rights of Unaccompanied Migrant Children”.
This event was organized by the Inter-American Children´s Institute (IIN), the Sistema Nacional para el Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (DIF – National System for Comprehensive Family Development) and the Secretaría de Bienestar Social de la Presidencia de Guatemala (SBS – Social Welfare Secretariat of the Presidency of Guatemala). The welcome address and opening remarks were delivered by Dora Ordóñez, Director of Liaison and Coordination of the DIF; Oscar Tobar, Planning Director of the SBS; and Paulina Fernández, Director of Areas and Projects of the IIN.
This workshop continued the process which started with the First Binational Workshop held in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala in April of this year. Its purpose was the presentation, revision and validation of the Binational Care Protocol for Unaccompanied Migrant Children, and development of the joint working agreements on the subject between both States.
On this occasion, the participating Guatemalan government institutions were the Dirección General de Asuntos Migratorios y Consulares del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (Migrations and Consular Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs); the Dirección General de Migración (Directorate General for Migration); the Consulate of Guatemala in Mexico; the Defensoría de la Niñez y Adolescencia de la Procuraduría General de la Nación (Children´s Ombudsman Division of the Attorney General´s Office) and the Secretaría de Bienestar Social de la Presidencia (Social Welfare Secretariat of the Presidency). The Mexican government participants were the Instituto Nacional de Migración (National Migration Institute) and the Sistema Nacional para el Desarrollo Integral de la Familia – DIF (National System for Comprehensive Family Development).
The workshop focused on the revision and validation of the route sheet for providing care to migrant children and the corresponding recommendations, with regard to improving those processes on the Mexico “Guatemala border. Agreement was reached on the steps to be taken for presenting the Draft Binational Protocol to the inter-institutional coordination agencies of both States, for its subsequent validation in the framework of the bilateral instruments on the subject.
Finally the participants worked on the joint revision of the agenda and programming of the training activities to be carried out in Guatemala. They also shared experiences on the use of information systems, particularly those of the DIF in Mexico and the Social Welfare Secretariat in Guatemala, for the purpose of keeping records and providing care to migrant children.
