Strengthening protection and support for migrants, refugees, and their families living in Belize
IOM, UNICEF, UNHCR sign joint migration workplan
BELMOPAN, 22 April 2026 - The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), have signed the fourth Joint Work Plan to strengthen protection and support for migrants, refugees, and their families in Belize.
The Joint Work Plan sets out coordinated actions to ensure that migrants, refugees, children, and families are safe, protected, and able to access essential services. The plan focuses on advocacy and legal reform, strengthened data systems, and enhanced national capacity to improve service delivery and support successful integration into Belizean society.
With a strong focus on children’s rights, the Joint Work Plan prioritizes birth registration, child protection, and efforts to prevent and reduce statelessness. UNICEF, IOM, and UNHCR will support government institutions to ensure that every child is registered at birth and able to access essential services including health care, education, and protection.
The plan also includes establishing minimum service standards for communities hosting migrants and refugees, as well as protocols to protect children and families at risk of statelessness.
As part of ongoing community engagement, the three UN agencies will continue conducting awareness-raising campaigns in communities where migrant, asylum-seeking, and refugee families live. These campaigns will focus on providing information about access to birth registration, as well as migration and asylum procedures.
Through close collaboration with the Government of Belize and local partners, IOM, UNICEF, and UNHCR are working together to strengthen national systems and ensure a coordinated, child‑centered approach to migration and refugee response. This partnership reflects a shared commitment to uphold the rights, dignity, and wellbeing of all migrants and refugees, especially children, while supporting their inclusion and positive contributions to Belizean society.
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UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.
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