How UNICEF Helps Children On the Move in Panama
Children now represent one in four migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean, and, just like all children, they have the right to be protected and to be with their families. UNICEF works with partners to provide access to basic services for children and families fleeing conflict and crisis.
Children who make the harrowing journey through the Darién Gap arrive in Panama in urgent need of assistance
Forced out of their homes by armed violence, extreme poverty and the devastating effects of climate change, families continue to make the dangerous trek through the Darién Gap from South America to Central America in search of safety and a better future for their children.
In the first seven months of 2024 alone, some 200,000 people crossed the Darién Gap. One out of four are children. By the end of October 2024, nearly 4,500 unaccompanied and separated children had made the perilous journey, compared to less than 3,300 recorded in all of 2023.
UNICEF works with governments, NGOs and other UN agencies to ensure migrating children and their families have access to essential services.
Watch the video:
A chance for children to feel safe again
Speaking from Lajas Blancas Migration Reception Center in Darién, Panama, Karin Hulshof, UNICEF Regional Director in Latin America and the Caribbean, describes some of the services provided for children and families, including toilets, showers, a first medical check-up and mental health and psychosocial support, along with child-friendly spaces where kids can go to play and feel safe again.
"They've seen the worst of the worst," says Hulshof. "It is a tragedy that is happening in Latin America. We have to see it at a regional level. It is not only what is happening between Colombia and Panama and this Darién Gap, it is everywhere."
All children have the same human rights, wherever they are
Every child, no matter what her circumstances, has the right to survive and thrive. From delivering lifesaving aid to those on the move to addressing the root causes of migration, UNICEF and partners are committed to protecting the rights and futures of the world's children.
"It is impossible to imagine what they went through," says Hulshof of the more than 46,000 children who have travelled through the Darién Gap's dense and treacherous jungle in 2024. "So here we are, we do absolutely our best to attend everyone with the minimum care that everyone deserves — every child, everywhere."
Support UNICEF's global efforts to meet the urgent needs of displaced and refugee children and to protect their rights. Your contribution can make a difference. Please donate today.
Learn more about UNICEF's work to protect child refugees and migrants worldwide.
HOW TO HELP
There are many ways to make a difference
War, famine, poverty, natural disasters — threats to the world's children keep coming. But UNICEF won't stop working to keep children healthy and safe.
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories — more places than any other children's organization. UNICEF has the world's largest humanitarian warehouse and, when disaster strikes, can get supplies almost anywhere within 72 hours. Constantly innovating, always advocating for a better world for children, UNICEF works to ensure that every child can grow up healthy, educated, protected and respected.
Would you like to help give all children the opportunity to reach their full potential? There are many ways to get involved.
