By: The Mexican Agency for Development Cooperation (AMEXCID)

Lack of opportunity is a major obstacle for children and adolescents of different communities, but today’s proposals, projects, cooperation and help with preventing these problems will open paths in the coming years for these children who are the future of our society.

The program to prevent the migration of unaccompanied minors from their home communities in Central America’s Northern Triangle is one of many projects that will enable us to create opportunities and make progress in this area. The goal is to improve the quality of life of these children in the communities of Central America’s Northern Triangle.

Central America’s Northern Triangle is composed of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras; Mexico is an important partner of this geographical group of countries that have come together for this important cause.

One way to help these communities is by strengthening the identity, roots and sense of belonging of these children.

All of the agencies involved in the project--AMEXCID, the Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL), Save the Children  and the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ)—believe it is important for young people to have in their own hometowns the tools they need at that important stage in their life so that they don’t feel the need to leave and face the risks to which unaccompanied migrants can be exposed.

Workshops, clubs and reflection and action groups involving family members, teachers and local authorities will be used to present scenarios of personal and professional growth.

The project focuses on three main areas:

  • Raising awareness of the causes of unaccompanied migration
  • Developing preventive strategies
  • Designing methods to evaluate the strategies through monitoring and tracking results

It is hoped that more than 6,000 participants will benefit directly from the program over a period of three years, and that about 30,000 people living in the school district and community will benefit indirectly.

As a neighboring country of Central America’s Northern Triangle, Mexico is working together with these countries because of how important the development of these nearby communities is, especially for their youths.

This project is a result of the interest and concern shared by partner countries in promoting mutual development. The Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID) provides financial support for the program as part of its ongoing commitment to share the best of Mexico and to take steps to turn challenges into opportunities and promote development cooperation in Central America, a priority region.