This post is also available in: Español
With support from Save the Children Mexico, the Inter-American Dialogue visited shelters across Tijuana to hear directly from migrant children and families about their migration stories. The initiative aimed to give migrant children a voice to share their experiences, thus raising awareness about their dreams, hopes, and fears for the future while also highlighting the challenges faced in accessing education and healthcare services.
Based on these testimonies, the Inter-American Dialogue partnered with AldeA Santiago to produce the video #SiguenSiendoNiños, which addresses several stories of migrant children in Latin America, including their challenges, dreams, and expectations of a new life.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:
The video premiered at the Second Regional Forum for Early Childhood Development in September 2024 in Bogotá, Colombia, where regional leaders were convened to reaffirm and advance the political and social commitment to the Regional Agenda for Early Childhood Development. As a result, representatives from governments, civil society, and cooperation agencies across Latin America and the Caribbean renewed their commitment to four core agreements while adding a crucial fifth in a landmark declaration:
- Intersectorality and financing
- Quality of child development services
- Measurement of child development
- Collaboration and alliances
-
Inclusion and equity – focusing on Migrant and Refugee children, Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and ethnic minority communities, and children with disabilities.
This expanded framework, the ‘Declaration of the Second Regional Forum for Early Childhood Development,’ strengthens the region’s commitment to early childhood development.
New document:
Despite the challenging situations that migrant children face, they continuously strive to live their childhood. Migrant children have aspirations: they want to be firefighters, police officers, doctors, astronauts, or veterinarians. They also share the same basic needs, such as attending school, receiving vaccinations, playing, and being protected.
While the efforts made by governments, civil society organizations, and cooperating agencies to address and respond to their needs are welcome, they remain insufficient. The Inter-American Dialogue presents the document Children and Adolescents on the Move—Listening to Their Voices: Testimonies of Fear, Hope, and Resilience, which sheds light on the need for states to ensure access to quality education and physical and mental services to migrant children.
