In the framework of the inter-institutional agreement between the Venezuelan State and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), a Guide for the Protection and Communication of Children and Adolescents in a situation of mobility or migration was prepared, in order to prevent their rights to be threatened or violated in the border area.
This instructional material constitutes a concrete achievement of the Inter-institutional Table for Child Mobility, in which 14 Venezuelan State’s institutions, led by the People’s Power Ministry for Foreign Relations and the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) intervene, in conjunction with Unicef, explained Eulalia Tabares, director of Consular Relations of the Foreign Ministry.
She pointed out that her office, in close consultation with the Vice-ministry for Multilateral Issues, is leading this work representing the Foreign Ministry and that the Saime, Saren, CNE, Public Ministry, Public Defense, Idena and protection councils of the entire State are participating in the Inter-institutional Table country, among other institutions.
The guide seeks to contribute with the authorities and public officials at the border or in Posts of Comprehensive Social Care (PASI) to have a tool that help them adjust their work to national and international regulations for the protection of the rights of children, girls and adolescents, especially important in the face of the wave of compatriots who return to the country fleeing from the pandemic, lack of health care, labor exploitation and xenophobic treatment in receiving countries in the region.
Director Tabares noted that this guide is part of the various protocols for the care of migrant children that the Inter-institutional Table has been working along the aforementioned United Nations agency, which includes a visit to the border strip to learn about the reality in the place, identify strengths and weaknesses, and thus fortify Venezuela’s child and adolescent protection system in the context of migratory mobility.