El Salvador - IOM, UNHCR and ICRC yesterday concluded the 3rd meeting of the Ad Hoc Group on Migrant Children and Adolescents of the Regional Conference on Migration (RCM) in El Salvador.

The meeting, which included a workshop on the holistic protection of children and adolescents, was attended by representatives of the governments of Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and the United States.

It aimed to review advances in the protection of child and teen migrants and refugees, and to identify the remaining challenges and ways to address them. Other participants included members of the Regional Network of Civil Organizations for Migration (RNCOM).

"The Member States of the RCM have clearly recognized that responsibilities, like migrants, cross borders. We welcome this approach, because migration is a combination of push and pull factors. We therefore need to work together to identify the areas in which States can do more to protect children who migrate,” said the IOM Chief of Mission to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Jorge Peraza.

The event, which took place in San Salvador August 18-20, included trainings and presentations conducted by specialists on Migrant Children's Rights. A group of young migrants also shared their experiences and views with government representatives.

The meeting also contributed to the ongoing development of a regional manual on protection of children and young migrants and refugees; the exchange of key national and regional information; and a better understanding of the obligations and guiding principles relating to migration in terms of human rights, gender, multiculturalism, diversity, participation, progressive autonomy and the best interests of the child.

Previous meetings of the RCM’s Ad Hoc Group on Migrant Children and Adolescents were held in 2014 in Guatemala and in early 2015 in Mexico. The San Salvador event received financial support from IOM’s Mesoamerica Regional Programme. The programme provides assistance and protection to vulnerable migrants in the region.

For more information, please contact Alba Miriam Amaya at IOM El Salvador, Tel: +503 2521 0500, Email: aamaya@iom.int