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March 28, 2022

Responding To: Innovating Protection for Children at Risk in the Americas

Inclusive Development Which Advances America’s Interests and Values

Benjamin Ilka, Creative Director USAID Guatemala, and Jose Guillermo Lopez, Regional Project Management Specialist USAID Guatemala

In 2020, over 15,600 cases of violence against children and adolescents were reported to Guatemala’s Public Prosecutor’s Office. This violence and neglect, coupled with food insecurity, natural disasters, and myriad economic factors, are driving many to irregularly migrate across the Americas in search of greater opportunity.

With more than 58,000 Guatemalan unaccompanied migrant children (UC) apprehended at the U.S. southern border in 2021 alone, the need to protect UC from human trafficking and migrant smuggling networks is more apparent than ever. While Guatemala has made progress to ensure the safe and dignified reception of UC in recent years, including two UC shelters and child-friendly reception areas at points of entry, more needs to be done to support community-level reintegration and to mitigate irregular migration.

Since September 2014, the U.S. Agency for International Development in Guatemala (USAID/Guatemala) has been responding to this issue by partnering with El Refugio de la Niñez, the only civil society organization in Guatemala providing rehabilitation and reintegration services to child victims of trafficking. Continuing this support, USAID and El Refugio de la Niñez recently signed a new $5 million, four-year agreement to expand protection services for survivors of trafficking in persons and UC, including temporary shelter, food, clothing, medical care, counseling, psychosocial support, education, life skills training, reintegration, and legal support.

El Refugio de la Niñez is a permanent member of the Guatemalan National Commission Against Human Trafficking and receives national funds appropriated by the Guatemalan Congress. It has strong partnerships with key Guatemalan government institutions including the Secretariat Against Trafficking in Persons and Sexual Violence, the Secretariat for Social Welfare, and the Solicitor General’s Office. This holistic approach informs the development of guidelines and protocols across the Guatemalan government, allowing El Refugio to sign 57 agreements with municipalities across the country, strengthening government offices dedicated to children and adolescent welfare.

Over the next four years, in partnership with USAID, El Refugio de la Niñez will implement a comprehensive protection model for girl survivors of trafficking, providing integrated care at its shelter Amor Sin Fronteras in Guatemala City. Importantly, El Refugio will uphold the rights of victims who are navigating legal proceedings. The organization will serve as a victim advocate and support trafficking in persons victims to understand the court system and their legal proceedings. It will support victims in following their case through the justice system to ensure that they are progressing, as well as prepare victims to testify in court and submit complete statements in support of their cases. For this purpose, El Refugio will also partner with justice sector institutions to ensure the victim's account is recorded in a way that mitigates re-victimization.

The project will also support returned migrant children and their families at three key points when they are returned to Guatemala: reception, reunification, and reintegration. El Refugio will strengthen Guatemalan government processes for the dignified reception of UC in Guatemala and Quetzaltenango by developing the capacities of child protection officers, psychologists, and indigenous counselors to address the needs of vulnerable youth. The project will also work with government institutions at the national and local level to ensure the positive reintegration of UC with their families, schools, and communities. 

USAID and El Refugio de la Niñez’s partnership is a step forward in aiding young people who have been the victims of violence or to human trafficking networks by providing reintegration and protection services, improving trafficking in persons prevention and protection, and strengthening the Guatemalan government’s capacity. USAID’s work with partners such as El Refugio de la Niñez will shift leadership and decision making to local institutions which possess the capability and credibility to drive change in Guatemala—a vision outlined by USAID Administrator Samantha Power through the Centroamérica Local initiative. Only through an equitable and sustainable response to these challenges, built upon the priorities and experiences of the people who live them every day, can we secure the safe and dignified lives of young Guatemalans.

USAID Guatemala supports programs that reduce poverty, promote overall economic growth and job creation, create opportunities for foreign direct investment, protect the rights of vulnerable and marginalized groups, improve health and education outcomes, guarantee food security, and protect the environment.


Other Responses

Juan Pacay
Wuqub' Tz'ikin

Juan Edwin Pacay Mendoza, Coordinator of the Kajib’ Ix Program, Vida Digna Collective Association; Maya Tz’utujil, Family-Community Organizer | March 28, 2022