Experts of the Committee on the Rights of the Child Commend Honduras’ Programmes Supporting Children with Disabilities, Ask about High Levels of Early Pregnancy and Child Sexual Abuse
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today concluded its consideration of the sixth and seventh combined periodic report of Honduras, with Committee Experts praising the State’s programmes supporting children with disabilities and raising questions about high levels of early pregnancy and child sexual abuse.
Rosaria Correa, Committee Expert and coordinator of the country taskforce for Honduras, welcomed the various programmes in place supporting children with disabilities. Were there cross-sectoral policies with sufficient budgets promoting the social inclusion of children with disabilities?
Suzanne Aho, Committee Expert and member of the country taskforce, said Honduras had the second highest rate of early pregnancy in Latin America. Why was the rate so high? Did schools provide students with information on pregnancy and did children have access to contraception?
Another Committee Expert said there were extraordinarily high levels of child sexual abuse in Honduras. One in two girls had reported being victims of sexual violence, and nine out of 10 victims said that they had not reported the violence. This was a crisis that required urgent action. What steps had been taken to ensure that the justice system put an end to impunity for such crimes?
Introducing the report, Angélica Lizeth Álvarez, Secretary of State in the Office of Human Rights of Honduras and head of the delegation, said the 2009 coup d'état marked the start of a dictatorship in Honduras. From 2009 to 2021, public debt increased from three to 20 billion United States dollars and poverty increased from 54 to 75 per cent. The 2021 elections heralded the end of the dictatorship. The country’s first female President, Xiomara Castro, had taken on the task of restoring public trust in institutions and democracy, Ms. Lizeth Álvarez said.
The delegation said a new law on the rights of persons with disabilities had recently been adopted by the National Congress. Social investments in disability support had been bolstered over the last five years. Around 13,000 scholarships were provided to children with disabilities and curricula had been adapted to meet their needs. The law also called for early childhood services to be made accessible.
The State party was working to reduce rates of adolescent pregnancy, the delegation said. It planned to adopt a policy on reducing teenage pregnancy this year. It was promoting the use of condoms and birth control pills and was providing adolescent-friendly healthcare information.
On sexual violence against children, the delegation said a roadmap had been developed for tackling the issue. The police undertook investigations into all reports of sexual violence and there were Prosecutor’s Offices that were specialised in addressing cases of sexual violence against children and adolescents. The Prosecutor’s Office had provided training to over 4,000 public servants on preventing violence against children.
In closing remarks, Ms. Correa said Honduras was obligated to not let its progress slide and to address its challenges, including in areas of migration, the fight against poverty, violence against children, and organised crime. The Committee welcomed the State’s openness to cooperating to bring meaningful changes to the lives of children and adolescents in Honduras.
In her concluding remarks, Ms. Lizeth Álvarez said that the full enjoyment of the rights of children in Honduras required a reconstruction of State institutions. The State party would continue to work to address its challenges, improve the implementation of the Convention, and uphold the rights of children.
The delegation of Honduras consisted of representatives from the Office of Human Rights; Office of Children, Adolescents and Family; Office of Education; Office of Social Development; Office of Health; Office of Labour and Security; National Institute for the Care of Juvenile Offenders; National Institute of Migration; National Congress; Centre for Migration Studies; Office of Social Development; and the Permanent Mission of Honduras to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The Committee will issue concluding observations on the report of Honduras at the end of its ninety-eighth session on 31 January. Those, and other documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, will be available on the session’s webpage. Summaries of the public meetings of the Committee can be found here, while webcasts of the public meetings can be found here.
The Committee will next meet in public this afternoon at 3 p.m. to consider the second periodic report of Saint Kitts and Nevis (CRC/C/KNA/2).
Report
The Committee has before it the combined sixth and seventh periodic report of Honduras (CRC/C/HND/6-7).
Presentation of Report
ANGÉLICA LIZETH ÁLVAREZ, Secretary of State in the Office of Human Rights of Honduras and head of the delegation, said Honduras endorsed the fundamental principles of the Convention.
The 2009 coup d'état had marked the start of a dictatorship in which the national oligarchy and drug trafficking colluded to take control of the State. From 2009 to 2021, public debt increased from three to 20 billion United States dollars and poverty increased from 54 to 75 per cent. The 2021 elections marked the end of the dictatorship and the start of the term of the country’s first female President, Xiomara Castro, who had taken on the task of restoring public trust in institutions and democracy.
Protecting children in vulnerable situations was a priority for the Government. In 2024, the Government had invested more than 1.5 billion United States dollars in children and set up the new Secretariat of Children, Adolescents and Family. The President had also adopted a National Policy on Early Childhood, Childhood and Adolescence 2024-2033. The policy focused on early childhood, migration, prevention of violence, and deinstitutionalisation.
The National Congress had adopted pro-child laws, including the National Children's Congress Act; a law on environmental education; and laws on the protection of internally displaced persons, women victims of violence, migrants, and foreigners. The National Congress had held three youth congresses focusing on matters related to the environment. An inter-institutional roundtable on children had also been set up.
Honduras had undertaken construction of the largest hospital network in the State’s history, which would include eight general hospitals, four neonatal centres, and multiple medical emergency centres. Decisive action had also been taken to improve access to water and sanitation across the country. The Ministry of Health had certified 17 hospitals as “baby friendly” hospitals that promoted breastfeeding. Five maternal and child modules and 70 emergency centres were under construction to help reduce maternal and infant mortality. The State had also broadened to 25 the number of free vaccinations. There were gaps in vaccination coverage that the State party was addressing.
The school feeding programme benefitted more than 1.2 million students. The Global School Feeding Coalition had highlighted this programme as one of the best in the Latin American region. Efforts had also been exerted to restore abandoned schools, distribute educational materials, and to improve access to education.
Honduras was a country of origin, transit, destination, and return for migrants. The Government sought to address the challenges it faced regarding migration. Centres for irregular migrants and returnees provided support to these individuals. The State was also working to reunite more than 25,000 child migrants with their families. Honduras and Guatemala had signed a protocol for the care and assistance of migrant children and adolescents.
More than 60 sports facilities for children had been built across the State, and a conference centre for children and adolescents in vulnerable situations had also been constructed. These efforts sought to prevent violence and stigmatisation of children and adolescents.
Subsidies had been provided to more than 900,000 families to cover electricity costs. The State had also provided financial support to help families own their own home. It was exerting efforts to improve the care of children in State institutions.
Honduras needed a new fiscal and tax policy that promoted equality and the fight against corruption. The new tax and justice law sought to reform the tax system for the benefit of all, including children.
Honduras looked forward to receiving the Committee’s recommendations, which would help it to continue advancing in the construction of a just and democratic society.
Questions by Committee Experts
ROSARIA CORREA, Committee Expert and Coordinator of the Country Taskforce for Honduras, welcomed the various programmes in place supporting children with disabilities. Were there cross-sectoral policies with sufficient budgets promoting the social inclusion of children with disabilities? What measures were in place to establish an effective detection system for the abuse of children with disabilities? Did the State party plan to conduct a detailed census of children with disabilities and their needs? The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities had noted in 2017 that legislation on children with disabilities did not specifically provide protection from discrimination. Had there been progress in this regard? What measures were in place to prevent the abandonment of children with disabilities?
How was the State party supporting children and adolescents to live in regions affected by climate change? How were children being incorporated into climate adaptation plans? Did the State party plan to sign and ratify the Escazú Agreement?
SUZANNE AHO, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Honduras, asked whether the eight general hospitals referenced in the report were up and running. The breastfeeding rate was 30 per cent. Why was this? How did hospitals encourage breastfeeding? How was the State party addressing a lack of trust among the public in vaccinations? Cancer rates were high in Honduras. What treatment programmes had been established? Families were reportedly required to provide food and medication for hospitalised cancer patients. What support was given to such families?
Why was the rate of early pregnancy so high? Honduras had the second highest rate of early pregnancy in Latin America. Did schools provide students with information on pregnancy? Did children have access to contraception? What was being done to protect children from HIV/AIDS?
Honduran youth was exposed to drug trafficking. What was being done to protect youths from drugs? Were there sufficient social workers to provide support to children with drug addictions?
What health care programmes were in place to tackle tuberculosis? Was there a nutrition programme to address the high levels of obesity in the State? There were concerns about the contamination of drinking water supplies with faecal matter. How was the State addressing this?
BENOIT VAN KEIRSBILCK, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Honduras, said Honduras was confronted by multi-faceted economic challenges. For the last few years, the education budget had been diminishing. Could the State party provide information on the education budget over the last four years and its forecast for future budgets? Many schools had dilapidated infrastructure and lacked access to electricity. How was the State party addressing these issues? Were children required to stay in school for 13 years? Were there alternatives to classroom schooling offered by the State? School dropout rates were troublingly high. Violence, gangs, poverty, and a lack of school infrastructure influenced this. What measures were in place to address these issues and reduce school dropouts? Were there specific programmes that helped pregnant girls to continue their education?
Internal displacement affected children in Honduras. Could the delegation provide more information on policies supporting internally displaced persons? Internally displaced persons often did not declare themselves and lacked access to support services. How was the State party identifying internally displaced children and helping them to access support services?
How was the State party supporting access to early childhood education? Was human rights education part of the core curriculum in Honduras? The State party had a programme for setting up safe spaces with access to leisure and games. Had the programme been rolled out across the country?
What measures were in place to support refugee and migrant children, particularly unaccompanied minors? Deportation was often a traumatic experience for children. Were there programmes to support orderly returns for migrant children returning to Honduras? How was the State party supporting migrant children who were separated from their families by United States immigration policy?
Child labour was a major issue in the country, particularly in the agricultural sector. What tools were in place to respond to the labour exploitation of children?
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights had issued a ruling calling on the State to provide support for street children rather than to crack down on them. How was the State party implementing this ruling?
Honduras had a special system for child justice, but there was a lack of specially trained support staff in this system to ensure that restorative justice and alternatives to detention were properly implemented. How was the State party addressing this? Did minors have access to free legal aid? The minimum age of criminal responsibility was currently 12 years. Were there plans to raise this and end the practice of detaining children aged 12? There were reports of abuse and ill-treatment of children and adolescents in detention centres. Were all complaints submitted by children duly investigated and perpetrators prosecuted? In 2019, the number of children detained had increased from 200 to around 1,000. What was the reason for this increase? Juvenile detention centres reportedly lacked resources to provide education and psychosocial care. Was the State party addressing this?
There were high levels of violence and weapons use in Honduras. The Committee welcomed that the State party had adopted legislation to limit the number of guns in circulation. How was this implemented in practice? Children from the age of 15 years could be enrolled in the armed forces according to State legislation. Were there plans to modify this legislation?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said a new draft law on persons with disabilities had been presented to the National Congress. Social investments in disability support had been bolstered over the last five years. Around 13,000 scholarships were provided to children with disabilities. Many teachers had been trained to support children with disabilities and curricula had been adapted to meet the needs of children with disabilities.
More than half a million children were receiving State support to access school supplies and through the school feeding programme. The coverage of the school feeding programme would be extended this year to cover all departments of the State.
The State party was working to reduce rates of adolescent pregnancy. It planned to adopt a policy on reducing teenage pregnancy this year. It was promoting the use of condoms and birth control pills and was providing adolescent-friendly healthcare information. These measures had helped to reduce the level of maternal mortality among adolescents.
Education budgets had increased year-on-year over the past four years. There were more than 200 damaged schools when the current Government took office. The Honduran Fund for Social Development was supporting the refurbishment of school infrastructure. State policies such as the national enrolment programme had led to a decrease in school dropouts. The number of enrolments would hit two million for the first time this year. Civics education in schools focused on human rights and citizenry.
The national policy on the promotion of breastfeeding aimed to address gaps in the promotion of breastfeeding. Seventeen hospitals had been certified as “child friendly” and were promoting breastfeeding. Vaccination coverage dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic from 90 to 70 per cent, but this had since recovered to around 80 per cent. The Government aimed to increase the vaccination coverage rate by 12 per cent by the end of the year. It had invested in improving its cold storage facilities and was working to increase public trust in vaccines.
Stipends were provided to children with cancer. A national registry of children with cancer was being developed, and the State was also investing in pathology labs to improve detection and analysis.
More than 20 million United States dollars had been invested in improving the safety of the water supply.
In 2022, the State party adopted a law to provide care and assistance to internally displaced persons and funds had been allocated to support these families. Honduras was rolling out a human rights-centred migration policy. An inter-institutional body had been set up to address issues related to migration flows. The previous tariff imposed on migrants had been suspended. More than seven million United States dollars had been invested in providing care and support to migrants. The running costs of migrant reception centres, which provided specialised care to child migrants, were borne by the State. A subsistence fund was provided to migrants and a national reintegration programme for returning migrants had been set up. More than 800 migrant children had been reunified with their families domestically. Honduras had a law on forced displacement. Various support services were provided to children affected by forced displacement.
Honduras had conducted a national, independent survey on child labour, which identified several thousands of children who were working, including a significant percentage in the worst forms of child labour. Most child workers worked in coffee plantations. The State party had strengthened the labour inspectorate to monitor and identify child labour. Certifications were provided to employers in the coffee sector that were implementing measures to prevent child labour, and a supply chain project that aimed to put an end to child labour in the coffee sector had been launched.
Supporting children and adolescents in conflict with the law was a challenge. There were 16 social service teams overseeing non-custodial measures. The State party sought to ensure that children subjected to these measures did not fall prey to gangs. It had been working with civil society organizations to implement the juvenile justice programme.
All complaints of ill-treatment of detainees by prison staff needed to be reported to authorities. The increase in children and adolescents in detention in 2019 was partly due to a lack of training of judges on alternatives to detention. Judges had since undergone training that had led to a sharp reduction in the detention of adolescents; currently, there were only 97 adolescents in detention. Independent oversight bodies monitored the conditions of juvenile detention.
Honduras had developed climate change resilience and reforestation programmes, and a programme to restore the State’s only natural lake. Education on climate change and environmental protection was included in the curriculum.
The State party was addressing the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on street children by conducting a mapping of street children. The State party was supporting institutions working with street children and had developed programmes to help identify street children. Last year, the State party had detected and provided protection measures for 110 street children.
Questions by Committee Experts
ROSARIA CORREA, Committee Expert and Coordinator of the Country Taskforce for Honduras, asked about the reasons for the institutionalisation of many children with disabilities. How was the State party integrating child rights into public environment policy?
Honduras had made strides in aligning legislation with the Convention. Which body was analysing the conformity of draft legislation with the Convention? Reforms to the Family Code had been proposed; how did these protect the rights of children and adolescents? The voices of children were reportedly not heard in legislative reform processes. How was the State party ensuring that children and adolescents participated in the process? The State party had not ratified the Optional Protocol on the communications procedure. Did it intend to do so in future?
What was included in the revised 2021 Criminal Code that served to protect the rights of children and adolescents? Were there provisions on remedy for child and adolescent victims? How were judicial staff trained on the revised Criminal Code?
What measures were in place to address the prevailing situation of insecurity in the State? How were police trained on protecting children? What steps had been taken to support teenage mothers to resume their schooling? The State party did not have a centralised database on child rights. What steps had been taken to create such a database? Were central observatory staff made aware of children’s rights?
LUIS ERNESTO PEDERNERA REYNA, Committee Vice-Chair and Member of the Country Taskforce for Honduras, said that child labour was most common in informal sectors. What was the State doing to detect and eradicate child labour in the domestic work sector? Did Honduras have the capacity to receive potential mass deportations of migrants from the United States proposed by the incumbent Trump administration?
Violence permeated Honduran society. However, the State party had adopted a welcome national action plan to combat violence against children. Why had the number of murders and violent deaths of children increased since its adoption? What steps had been taken to implement policies discouraging children to join gangs? How would these policies be rolled out further in rural areas of the country?
Was the body set up to assess the state of emergency assessing its impact on children? Were there plans to set up a committee to investigate complaints of violence carried out by the police in the context of the state of emergency?
What steps had been taken to make schools safe spaces for children? Children were often murdered on route to school and in schools. How was the State addressing this troubling phenomenon? Most victims of sexual violence were girls. What steps had been taken to ensure that the justice system put an end to impunity for such crimes? Were police officers trained to address this problem and to support access to justice for children and adolescents? How was the State party preventing sexual violence in family settings and refraining from institutionalising child victims of violence?
What steps had been taken to prevent the sexual exploitation of children carried out by organised crime, particularly in the tourism sector? How were victims provided with psychosocial care and rehabilitation support?
Children and adolescents were often institutionalised on the grounds of poverty. Institutions were often outsourced to private businesses. How did the State party ensure that these institutions met quality standards? How was it addressing the shortfall in staff in these institutions and bolstering their training on working with children and adolescents?
What measures would the State party take to ensure that there was better oversight and transparency regarding policies involving children? What steps had been taken to respond to allegations of sale of children by public officials? Would the State party support community care for children living with their mothers in prisons?
SUZANNE AHO, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Honduras, asked about the rate of birth registration in Honduras and the steps taken to ensure ongoing birth registration during the COVID-19 pandemic. Were midwives responsible for registering births? What happened when children were not registered in time? Could they still be registered after the deadline? What costs were associated with registration?
Children were often harassed when they gathered in public. How was the State party ensuring their right to peaceful assembly? How were children protected from online abuse?
BENOIT VAN KEIRSBILCK, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Honduras, said that the first person that children in street situations confronted was often a police officer. What training was provided to the police on children in street situations? Did the police monitor leisure facilities to ensure that they were safe?
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said a comprehensive national sexual education programme was currently being contemplated. New public policy was being drafted to broaden sexual and reproductive health education to include issues such as violence and online safety.
There were around 15,500 returnee children in the country. The State party had developed a policy for caring for returnee and internal migrant children. These children were allowed to enrol in schools at any time in the school year and were supported to remain in school. Basic education was free in Honduras. The State party was investing in boosting levels of school enrolment by providing resources directly to schools. Funding in education had increased and the Government planned to further increase the education budget.
There were no reports of outbreaks of violence resulting in loss of life in schools or education centres. The Government was rolling out protocols for preventing violence and promoting peaceful coexistence in schools. Community police were trained to pursue non-violent means of conflict resolution.
Creches and kindergartens had been set up in prisons for children living with their mothers to ensure those children’s access to education.
The Secretary of State for Health had established an independent unit for persons with disabilities. It had established programmes aiming to ensure proper care for external wounds and aiming to reduce road accidents to reduce disabilities.
The Government was working to expand access to family planning services. Around 20,000 young people had accessed such services in 2024. A family planning handbook had been published and was available across the country. The Government was working to further align family planning services to the needs of adolescents. There were municipal committees for preventing teenage pregnancy conducting awareness raising campaigns on the issue.
The Government sought to plug gaps in birth registration. An online pre-registration form was being developed to boost the percentage of registrations and to streamline the registration process.
The State was also working to address malnutrition and obesity. The national census on adolescents was being adjusted to better map nutritional needs and chronic illnesses. The protocol for malnutrition for children under five had been updated and a law on nutrition for young children had been developed. There were awareness raising campaigns in place on healthy lifestyles that targeted children and adolescents.
The law on the rights of persons with disabilities had recently been adopted by the National Congress. It was aligned with the key provisions of the Convention, compelling the State to provide inclusive education for children with disabilities. The State party had taken steps to protect children with disabilities from violence, torture, ill-treatment, and discrimination. There was a reporting mechanism in place for such violations. Schools were now required to provide reasonable accommodation for children with disabilities. The law also called for early childhood services to be made accessible.
The draft revisions to the Family Code and the Civil Code aimed to ensure that either parent could have custody when there was an agreement between parents. This did not free either parent of parental responsibility. The reform also aimed to reduce to one year the period for dissolving a marriage by mutual agreement. The reforms aimed to safeguard the best interests of children.
The Youth Congress provided youth with a venue for expressing their ideas on legislative matters. It took place once a year for a week-long period, and comprised 128 youth representatives of the regions of the State. Youth could present motions, participate in debates, and describe the realities of their municipalities. The Youth Congress had recently presented bills on environmental matters and intercultural understanding that had been adopted by the National Congress.
One legislative session of Congress in 2024 focused specifically on women. A draft law was presented to create “cradle classrooms” that helped teenage mothers to continue their studies. A decision on this draft law was expected soon.
A draft law against obstetric violence had been developed, which sought to eliminate all forms of violence in gynaecological and obstetric care services. A draft law on shelters proposed increased funding to ensure stability for shelters for survivors of violence and supported access to education for child victims of violence. Mental health education programmes were being developed, and a protection scheme had been established for students at risk of suicide. In 2018, a law on the prevention of teenage pregnancy was launched.
In 2021, the Constitution was reformed to strengthen the prohibition of abortion, and this change could only be rescinded with 75 per cent support of Congress. This level of support had not yet been achieved.
The State party was working to modernise and broaden the Criminal Code to address crimes against humanity, sexual, and digital crimes, among others. A commission had been set up to reform the Criminal Code. Reforms could change the reality of sexual indemnity.
A draft law on domestic workers was also being developed in collaboration with trade unions to address the realities of the sector. A law on street children and internally displaced children had also recently been drafted to strengthen support for such children.
A protocol was in place on the protection of children in migration. Various Government bodies were working to identify Honduran minors travelling alone and to provide them with care and protection if their rights had been abused.
A survey of children with disabilities living in residential centres under protection orders was nearing completion. There were currently around 400 children with disabilities living in alternative care settings. Technical assistance was being provided to these institutions to improve the care they provided for children with disabilities.
Workshops run by women’s centres had been developed for pregnant teenagers. They included post-natal classes on how to care for children, preventing second pregnancies, and life skills. Around 5,500 families had received training from the police in 2024 on protecting children online and preventing trafficking of children. There was also an educational programme targeting at-risk children that aimed to discourage them from joining gangs.
The President of Honduras had called President-elect Donald Trump to propose a protocol on deportations. Honduras was taking steps to strengthen ties with countries though which Honduran migrants transited. The State party was also preparing for an increase in deported Honduran migrants by strengthening support programmes for returnees. However, mass deportations from the United States would stretch Honduras’ limits to provide support. Honduras was stepping up efforts to trace the movement of migrants and promote safe migration.
There was 97 per cent birth registration coverage in 2023. Births in hospitals were registered on an automatic basis. There were no reports of births that could not be registered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The timeframe for registering births had been extended to 90 days to facilitate the registration of babies in border regions. Registrations could also occur after the 90-day period had elapsed.
The State party was working to support the transition from the informal to the formal labour sector and was raising children’s awareness of hazardous work. Budget lines were being devoted to eradicate the worst forms of child labour. An online system had been launched to register identified cases of child labour. Childcare centres were helping to prevent young mothers from seeking work. The minimum age to start work was 14. Children aged 14 to 15 could work for a maximum of four hours per day. The labour inspectorate conducted inspections of children’s workplaces to ensure that working conditions were healthy and that children were being paid fairly.
Questions by Committee Experts
LUIS ERNESTO PEDERNERA REYNA, Committee Vice-Chair and Member of the Country Taskforce for Honduras, welcomed policies in place to address teenage pregnancies, but said that there needed to be a stronger response from the Government to champion the marginalised voices in society and push back against powerful conservative groups. One in two girls had reported being victims of sexual violence, and nine out of 10 victims said that they had not reported the violence. How would the State party raise children’s confidence in the justice system?
Many returnee migrants subsequently left the country due to a lack of opportunities domestically. How would the State party address this phenomenon? What steps had been taken to adopt the law on fiscal justice?
ROSARIA CORREA, Committee Expert and Coordinator of the Country Taskforce for Honduras, asked about the budget allocation for services for adolescents over 15 years of age. Girls in indigenous communities were disproportionately affected by early marriages and pregnancies. Was the State party addressing their plight? What strategy was being developed on access to justice for children? How did the State party define the best interests of the child?
BENOIT VAN KEIRSBILCK, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Honduras, asked how the complaints mechanism for children with disabilities worked and how children were made aware of the mechanism. Was there a complaints mechanism for children in security centres? How did the State party support the right to education for children aged 14 and 15 who were working?
SUZANNE AHO, Committee Expert and Member of the Country Taskforce for Honduras, asked how the State party cared for children and adolescents with mental health issues.
Another Committee Expert asked what the State party’s strategy was for eradicating child labour. Was there a specific strategy for supporting children working in domestic care settings?
One Committee Expert said over half of children reported being bullied in schools. What programmes were in place to address bullying?
A Committee Expert said there were extraordinarily high levels of child sexual abuse and violence against children. This was a crisis that required urgent action. Were there protocols on reporting sexual and physical abuse of children? Were forensic interviews of child victims conducted? How were children treated in courts?
Another Committee Expert asked for more information on the mental health education programme being developed.
Responses by the Delegation
The delegation said the State party had been working for many years to address the issue of the sexual abuse of children. A roadmap had been developed for tackling sexual abuse and justice officials were trained on dealing with cases involving children. Nineteen child-friendly rooms had been established for interviewing child victims. The Government was strengthening the capacity of all municipalities to support victims and working with children’s groups and civil society organizations to respond to sexual violence.
In 2024, the first national policy on children, adolescents and the family was adopted, which focused on preventing violence against children and adolescents. All national institutions involved in the plan were required to draw up plans to address violence against children. A total of 150 million lempiras had been set aside for violence prevention programmes. In 2024, the State party invested 39 billion lempiras in children, adolescents and families.
The best interests of the child guided laws concerning children, the Youth Congress, and data collection on children. This concept was not properly integrated in some pieces of legislation, but the State party was working to address this.
The State party hoped that the new Criminal Code would be implemented this year. The new Code would address weaknesses in the current Code that allowed for impunity and hindered access to justice for victims. The draft framework on mental health education addressed the prevention of suicide, drug addiction, and other mental health issues affecting children and adolescents.
Factors such as natural disasters and high levels of violence involving organised crime pushed returnees to leave Honduras. The Government was developing programmes to increase opportunities for returnee migrants to access livelihoods and address the causes of human mobility. Tools were being developed to better measure and respond to the migration phenomenon.
There were boxes placed in juvenile detention facilities that children could use to lodge complaints. Last year, the National Human Rights Commission made 15 visits to these facilities. Experts regularly gave talks on mental health, drug addiction, and sexual health for juvenile detainees.
Honduras had ratified the International Labour Organization convention on the worst forms of child labour. It exerted efforts to ensure that children who were working were also fully participating in their education.
The police undertook investigations into all reports of sexual violence and gender-based violence. There were Prosecutor’s Offices that were specialised in addressing cases of sexual violence against children and adolescents, deaths of minors, violence against women, and cybercrimes. A hotline provided confidential support for women and girls who were victims of violence. The Prosecutor’s Office provided workshops on violence prevention and training to over 4,000 public servants on preventing violence against children.
Poverty had risen by 27 per cent over the dictatorship era. The Government needed funds and resources to address this issue. Tax funds that had not been collected currently exceeded public debt. The draft law on tax reform had a social focus. It had been blocked in Congress by representatives of powerful families who did not pay taxes. The law would strengthen the country’s general budget, which could be distributed to bodies seeking to protect human rights. The Committee needed to call for the adoption of this tax law.
Concluding Remarks
ROSARIA CORREA, Committee Expert and Coordinator of the Country Taskforce for Honduras, thanked Honduras for its active participation in the constructive dialogue. The Committee appreciated the State’s willingness to hear the Committee’s recommendations. Honduras was obligated to not let its progress slide and to address its challenges, including in areas of migration, the fight against poverty, violence against children, organised crime, and the depoliticization of institutions. The Committee welcomed the State’s openness to cooperating to bring meaningful changes to the lives of children and adolescents in Honduras. It looked forward to continuing to work with the State party to ensure that all Honduran children could enjoy a healthy, free and safe life.
ANGÉLICA LIZETH ÁLVAREZ, Secretary of State in the Office of Human Rights of Honduras and head of the delegation, expressed appreciation for the Committee’s efforts to address the challenges faced in Honduras. The full enjoyment of the rights of children in Honduras required a reconstruction of State institutions. The State party was working to address the damage caused by pillaging and violence that had occurred during the dictatorship era. It would continue to work to address its challenges, improve the implementation of the Convention, and uphold the rights of children.
Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media;
not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.
CRC25.004E