Guatemala - Making Street Children and at Risk Youth a Priority
Successive Guatemalan governments have sadly neglected street children for too many years. For the future well being of the country where over 50% of the 13 million population are children under the age of 18, the new administration of President Alvaro Colom must reverse years of neglect and make street children and at risk youth an absolute priority.
What you can do
Please write to the authorities respectfully urging them to:
- Implement and resource a meaningful programme to stop violence and respect children’s human rights as per Guatemala’s obligation under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Provide adequate resources for the implementation of Guatemala’s Law of Integral Protection of Children and Adolescents.
- Adopt effective legislation in the Criminal Code to protect children from trafficking, sexual exploitation and abuse
- Investigate all crimes against children and adopt meaningful sentences for perpetrators, which have the interests of the child victim as their main priority and ensure full access to civil compensation for damages to child victims.
- End impunity of police & military personnel abusing street children and harassing those who assist them.
- Implement the recommendation of the International Committee for Human Rights (ICHR) on provision of adequately funded social programmes for youth.
Please address your letters to:
President Ing Alvaro Colon Caballeros
Presidente de la República de Guatemala
Casa Presidencial, 6 a. Avenida, 4-18 zona 1
Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Email: cartapresidente@scspr.gob.gt or mgarcia@presidencia.gob.gt
Fax: +502 2221 4423
Minister Roger Haroldo Rodas Melgar
Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores
2 Av 4-17, Zona 10,
Ciudad de Guatemala,
Código Postal 01010, Guatemala.
Fax: + 502 2348 0110 / 2331 8410
Ministro de Defensa
General de Brigada Marco Tulio García
Avenida Reforma 1-45 zona 10 (Antigua Escuela Politécnica)
Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Email: ministro@mindef.mil.gt
Señor Alfonso Matta-Fahfen
Embassy of Guatemala,
13 Fawcett St, London, SW10 9HN
Tele:020 7351 3042. Fax: 020 7376 5708
Email: embgranbretana@minex.gob.gt
Please also send appeals to your Local MP and MEP’s
You may contact them via a free service at: www.Writetothem.com.
Please send copies of your appeals to Casa Alianza UK so that we may measure the response. casalnzauk@gn.apc.org
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