Children on the move and those affected by armed violence in Latin America appeal

In 2026, an estimated 3.9 million children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean will need humanitarian assistance due to the combined impacts of armed violence and unsafe migration. Migrants and displaced children, along with those affected by armed violence, are increasingly at risk of exploitation, family separation, recruitment by armed groups and psychological distress. Women, girls and persons with disabilities face protection risks amid a deteriorating humanitarian situation.

In 2025, migration patterns across the region shifted significantly, with a sharp decline in northbound travel and a noticeable increase in return movements heading south. Several countries in the region introduced or reinforced restrictive migration and asylum measures; others ended regularization programmes and reduced access to regular migrat pathways. In the absence of regular alternatives, many migrants, including children and adolescents, are compelled to resort to irregular and dangerous routes, exposing them to violence and exploitation by human traffickers, smugglers and non-state armed groups. These dynamics continue to unfold against the backdrop of large-scale displacement, with the regional inter-agency coordination platform estimating that as of June 2025 the number of Venezuelan refugees and migrants in the region had reached 6.87 million.

Countries across the region are facing unprecedented numbers of fatalities due to armed violence, with 1 in 10 deaths the result of homicide. In Latin America and the Caribbean, homicide is the leading cause of mortality among adolescents aged 10–19 years. The region also has one of the highest homicide rates among girls in the world. With just 8 per cent of the global population, Latin America and the Caribbean accounts for approximately 33 per cent of the world’s homicides. In Ecuador, between January and May 2025, more than 300 children and adolescents had been killed, including 135 girls, while nearly 900 were detained for offenses often linked to forced recruitment. In addition, around 92,000 people, many of them children, have been displaced by violence. In Honduras, 108 children were killed in the first six months of 2025, while approximately 247,000 people remain internally displaced due to widespread gang control, extortion and political violence. In Mexico, reports of missing and disappeared children surged by more than 46 per cent according to official sources, rising from 875 reports in early 2024 to 1,280 in the first five months of 2025.

With violence, displacement and limited safe routes placing millions of children at risk, sustained donor engagement is vital to deliver life-saving assistance and bolster protection for the most vulnerable children in the region.

Guided by UNICEF’s Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action and through inter-agency coordination, including the Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan, UNICEF will deliver life-saving support in 15 countries in 2026, including Belize, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago. The humanitarian response will adapt to shifting migration dynamics and focus on the humanitarian needs linked to unsafe migration across the region. 

In Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, UNICEF will also extend support to communities affected by armed violence. Since there is no dedicated inter-agency plan on armed violence in Latin America and the Caribbean, UNICEF’s work in this area helps ensure that affected children and families can access essential services and protection. In all countries, UNICEF will continue delivering support in health, nutrition, child protection, education, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and social protection services, with a focus on reaching the most vulnerable children on the move and those living in violence-affected areas. 

In 2026, UNICEF's response to both the migration and armed violence crises aims to reach a total of 811,000 people, including 468,000 children, with mental health and psychosocial support and education as well as health, nutrition, safe water and sanitation services. Child protection activities include child rights monitoring, case management, social inclusion and gender-based violence prevention and response. UNICEF will strengthen accountability to affected populations by ensuring their participation in all phases of the response and by providing services that are age-, gender- and disability-appropriate.

In collaboration with national governments, United Nations agencies and local partners, UNICEF will promote and protect the rights of migrant, refugees and internally displaced children and their families. UNICEF will also advance social inclusion and integration and support legal identity and regularization processes to reduce discrimination and prevent xenophobia. 

At the regional and national level, UNICEF will provide technical and operational support to strengthen field responses and will continue to lead and co-lead inter-agency coordination in child protection, education, nutrition and WASH, ensuring a cohesive humanitarian response across the region. 

To reinforce long-term resilience, UNICEF will advocate for increased government investment in shock-responsive social protection systems and will integrate preparedness and anticipatory action to better safeguard children’s rights before, during and after crises.