Episode 53: Protecting displaced children's rights in Latin America

The Migration & Diaspora Podcast

Hello and welcome again to yet another episode of the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, where we showcase projects and people from the field of migration and diaspora engagement. I’m your host Loksan Harley from Homelands Advisory, your independent migration and diaspora agency.

Now, it’s been a while since we talked about Latin America on this podcast, so I’m very excited to present to you a conversation with Mara Tissera Luna, one of the region’s preeminent experts on migration and especially children on the move in displacement situations, which is precisely the topic of the day.

About Mara

Mara is an international consultant focusing on displacement and protection responses in Latin America and the Caribbean. She’s a fellow at the Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues at Georgetown University and has provided technical advice and applied research to UNICEF, the University of Edinburgh, Refugees International, and International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) in 14 countries, contributing to 25+ reports, handbooks, and short articles.

What we talk about

In today’s episode, we talk all about the rather harrowing protection issues faced by children in situations of displacement in Latin America, including:

• The state of play of forced displacement in the region.

• Specific trends in the displacement of children.

• Solutions to address these very pressing needs.

Mara draws both from her recent research on very young children in Guatemala, as well wider research on the topic. We’ve included some links to some of these sources in the show notes as there is a lot to know and we couldn’t cover anything in a 45-minute podcast.

Anyway, without further ado, I’d like to thank you again for tuning in and we hope you enjoy the show.

Links

• Connect with Mara: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maratisseraluna/

• Mara’s website and newsletter sign-up: https://latinamerica.website/maratisseraluna

• Georgetown University's programme "Promoting Early Childhood Development for Young Children on the Move in Northern Central America,": https://globalchildren.georgetown.edu/posts/innovations-to-support-early-childhood-development-and-protection-for-young-displaced-children-in-guatemala

• Mini-guide "Research for Advocacy & Systemic Change: A Ridiculously Simplified Guide to Intersectional & Decolonial Research + examples.": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FK-wuDhJ3bHsvb85U_crh-M5Y51l66-O/view

• Background Paper "Protecting Children in Escalating Conflict and Crises: Armed Violence, Climate Shocks, and Displacement", Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action: https://alliancecpha.org/en/annual-meeting-2024/background-paper

• ODI and UNICEF’s “Children on the move in Latin America and the Caribbean: Review of evidence”: https://www.unicef.org/lac/en/reports/children-on-the-move-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean

• An in-depth, graphical overview of what’s happening at the U.S.-Mexico border right now, from the Washington Office on Latin America’s Adam Isacson: https://vimeo.com/918977850

• The world's most neglected displacement crises in 2022: https://www.nrc.no/resources/reports/the-worlds-most-neglected-displacement-crises-in-2022/

• The MDPcast Ep22: Latin America's migration mega-trends: https://www.homelandsadvisory.com/podcast/episode/2790db1d/episode-22-latin-americas-migration-mega-trends-with-felipe-munoz-from-the-inter-american-development-bank

• The MPDcast Ep5: Chlidren on the move in West and Central Africa: https://www.homelandsadvisory.com/podcast/episode/20c80d46/episode-5-children-on-the-move-in-west-and-central-africa-context-vulnerabilities-and-protection-needs