Migrant Children

A growing number of migrant children and adolescents embark on a perilous journey from Central America to the United States. The vast majority of them come from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, also known as the Northern Triangle of Central America.

The main reasons for their departure vary but family reunification, search for better economic opportunities and high levels of violence are constantly mentioned, among others. On June 2nd, 2014, US President Barack Obama declared this reality as an "urgent humanitarian situation." Later in July of the same year, and during the International Conference on Migrant Children and Families, in Tegucigalpa, representatives of the three countries urged the international community to support efforts for the comprehensive approach to the issue.

Thus, the project Comprehensive assistance to returning families and unnaccompanied children in the Northern Triangle of Central America started with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and executed by IOM.


The project includes five components that seek, in coordination with the governments, to contribute to:

  1. Support national institutions and NGOs in the immediate post arrival assistance of children, adolescents and returning families. IOM provides hygiene kits, food, counseling, transportation and others.
  2. Strengthen the migration management in the countries of origin with the delivery of equipment, renovation of infrastructure and improvement of information management at the borders and reception centres.
  3. To build capacity government institutions, NGOs and other partners that provide assistance to children, adolescents and families through workshops. The trainings focuses on several issues of assistance to returnees and migration management.
  4. Strengthen information management and outreach activities, developing tools to give to the communities of origin as well as transit points of returnees and potential migrants. This will strengthen the support and assistance networks that already exist.
  5. Implement a monitoring and mapping of returning population that will allow the registration of immediate needs through two phases: during the arrival and in follow up at the community.

This collaboration seeks to ensure a comprehensive response in the migration cycle: reception, direct post arrival assistance and reintegration.

To learn more, click here