Interview - "The Forgotten Children"
In the second interview of MGCY Migration’s “Latin America Region” article series, we interview Nancy Yomira Roblero Perez. Nancy is the founder and the director of JXC Guatemala. JXC aims to develop better conditions for children, adolescents and youth in Guatemala. Nancy represents JXC in MGCY's Migration network in South America.
Written by: Asli Saban
How many years have you been working in the social work, human rights, protection, advocacy areas?
I have been working as a human rights defender for 7 years. While I was a child, I faced serious challenges including spousal violence and discrimination. I started to box while I was 17 years old. However, many people stigmatized me for the sport. Because boxing is not for women. No one believed and supported my dreams. However, I pursued my dreams and I won silver and bronze medals in the national amateur competitions. Currently, I study law and social science at San Universidad de San Guatema. I am also a founder of JXC Guatemala, an organisation which supports and advocates for marginalized youth and children.
Can you provide some information about Guatemala?
Guatemala (Spanish: República de Guatemala), is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, Belize and the Caribbean to the northeast, Honduras to the east, El Salvador to the southeast and the Pacific Ocean to the south. With an estimated population of around 17.2 million, it is the most populous country in Central America and has the 11th largest national population in the Americas. Guatemala faces many social problems and is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. I currently live in San Marcos province.
56% of the population of Guatemala lives below the poverty line. This situation has a particular impact on children from minority groups. The consequences of poverty in the lives of children are: health problems, malnutrition and the obligation to work, which is detrimental to their education. In Guatemala, we estimate that 80% of children in rural areas suffer from chronic and acute malnutrition, their survival systems have been hit by trafficking of all kinds, gender and species, this has repercussions of over exploitation of child labor, prostitution and organized crime, abandonment of their homes, family disintegration, and drug and alcohol abuse.
San Marcos is a border point with Mexico, and is a place of origin, transit, and return in the migratory issue. Many children and adolescents migrate daily, and the reasons are diverse: due to lack of employment, poverty in their communities, a lack of education, malnutrition that has increased over the years, overpopulation, and the lack of economic opportunity., One of the consequences of this is that there are currently thousands of cases of children missing, or detained in immigration stations in Mexico and the United States - girls, boys and young people who have abandoned their homes, in order to obtain a decent life for themselves and for their families.
Let's talk about child rights. How are children affected by poverty? Can they access their fundamental rights such as housing and education? How are children affected by the violence experienced in the country?
Girls, boys and adolescents make up more than half of the Guatemalan population. 50% of the population under 18 years of age (around 3.7 million children and adolescents) live in poverty. The situation is radically worse in rural and indigenous areas, where 76% and 80%, respectively, live in poverty. The nutrition situation in Guatemala is one of the worst in the region. Almost 23% of girls and boys aged three months to five years suffered from generalized malnutrition, while approximately half suffered from chronic malnutrition in 2006. School retention in Guatemala is low. Only 60% of the students who start the first year reach the end of the sixth and only 39% finish it at the appropriate age.
What kind of problems do children face in Guatemala?
Children face many problems in Guatemala. For instance, more than 20% of Guatemalan children are forced to work to contribute to the income of their families. In this regard, it is one of the worst-off countries in Latin America. They work in many different sectors: they shine shoes, work at night in factories, wash cars, are street vendors, construction workers, domestic workers and even garbage collectors. They are ruthlessly exploited in intense and sometimes dangerous situations. The scarcity of financial resources for household expenses and the consequent incorporation of minors into the world of work are some of the main reasons why girls and boys do not advance in their educational path and cannot break the cycle of poverty in the future. Recent figures show that 23% of children and young people between the ages of 7 and 16 are part of the country's labor force.
The repercussions are serious: they suffer from many health problems and cannot get a normal education. The situation is exacerbated by the incidence of child marriage. 35% of Guatemalan girls marry before the age of 18. Families prepare them from a very young age for their future as married women and they still do not understand all the implications of marriage. These unions have serious consequences on the physical and mental health of young women.
Worse yet, Guatemala is home to a large amount of illicit and dangerous trafficking. Children are the first victims of criminals; they are used by them without any hesitation. As in many other countries, poverty causes activities such as drug trafficking, prostitution, pornography, child trafficking and illegal adoption to proliferate. Little girls are the main victims of these criminals. They are abused and show signs of having suffered torture and sexual abuse. It also claimed that the enormous demand for children for adoption by foreign families has given way to a business related to such adoptions, as well as to situations of kidnapping and trafficking of children. The long waiting periods and the enormous difficulties that the country has had to go through for the enactment of the Adoption Law shows that there is a special effort to maintain the current situation in this regard, which goes against the primary interests from childhood.
Child violence linked to this and other issues creates a climate of insecurity and danger in the streets. The number of children killed is alarming, and criminals often receive no punishment The right of children to adequate protection, guaranteed by the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CIDN) is not properly ensured. As a result, Guatemalan children constantly risk their lives and are frequently met with extreme and cruel violence.
Disabled children are also invisible in Guatemala. Because of poverty, exclusion etc. Furthermore, the government do not implement inclusion and supportive programs for disabled children.
As we know, many Guatemalan migrant Children generally turned back to Guatemala. What kind of challenges do they face?
One of the studies show that the migration of unaccompanied children returned to Guatemala is multi-causal and that the majority comes from the departments of the western highlands and El Petén. Among the reasons expressed, 75% of returned unaccompanied migrant girls, boys and adolescents claimed to have traveled in search of better living conditions, followed by family reunification (47%) and work (37%). The survey also found that more than 90% of this population does not enroll in schools. This percentage is higher for the group that carried out some type of work prior to migrating, which suggests that the time dedicated to productive activities limited the development possibilities for returned unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents. In addition, 79% of children and adolescents returned to Guatemala invested more than 22 hours a week in unpaid family work activities before migrating. This percentage is higher for girls. On the other hand, the group that worked in a paid manner represents a smaller proportion (32%, mostly children), but the time dedicated is higher (more than 36 hours per week).
What about LGBTIQ+ Children?
Actually, they are not visible. The LGBTIQ+ community suffers from discrimination and hate crime on a significant scale. Guatemala is very conservative country. It is very difficult – even unacceptable - to talk about LGBTIQ+ children in the society. I can’t give more details, but organizations are implementing supportive programs for them.
What about law and regulations? How do civil society organizations and government protect children?
There is a Law for the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents (PINA Law) that continues to be promoted in Guatemala, for the protection of children. Unfortunately, government organizations are centralized in the capital of Guatemala, and information and support do not reach the communities that require it.
What is your message to young people who want to work in civil society organizations as a Role-Model?
Human Rights work is a challenge that young people must and can assume, to defend and promote them in every space, in every place, wherever we are. More young people must get involved in this fight for everyone. We should always tell them – and the world - that child rights are human rights.