Honduras

Honduras is considered one of the most violent countries in the world that is not in a conflict situation. In addition, there is a "Guardians of the Fatherland" program that sends disadvantaged children to military exercises instead of school. Information and data sources are lacking on almost all points, so that hardly any statements are made, for example, about the situation of girls and children in street situations.

Sex-based discrimination language is continuously used in certain laws, institutional plans and programmes for children. Also, the Committee is concerned about the high number of cases of child abuse, in particular involving girls, including in the family environment, and about the lack of consolidated and disaggregated information on all forms of abuse against children. It is concerned as well about the high prevalence of child marriages, in particular among girls.
In addition to that, the Committee remains concerned about the high levels of pregnancy among adolescent girls, in particular among adolescents with no education or with only primary schooling, and notes the neglect of sexual and reproductive health education in the design of the national curriculum for basic education. The Committee is also deeply concerned that girls can in no circumstances have access to abortion services, including in cases of rape or incest and when their health or life are in danger, a situation which places them at grave risk of resorting to clandestine abortion at the risk of their life and can lead them to being criminalized.

Almost half of the children with disabilities are deprived of education. To improve the situation, the Committee recommends to take urgent measures to ensure that all children with disabilities are effectively enrolled in mainstream schools. It further recommends to train specialized teachers and professionals in inclusive education and assign them to inclusive classes providing individual support and all due attention to children with disabilities.

The Committee welcomes the decline in infant and under-five mortality rates and the adoption of the Breastfeeding Law, but is concerned about the delay in adopting a primary-health-care strategy and the limitations imposed on the expanded programme of immunization. Also, the State Party should improve the coverage and quality of services, paying particular attention to rural and indigenous neglected populations.

The Committee recommends that the State party provide adequate access to mental-health services for all children and develop specialized and youth-friendly drug-dependence treatment and harm reduction services for children and young people.

The Committee welcomes the measures the State party has taken to combat child labour, but it remains concerned about the lack of harmonization of the Labour Code with international standards. The State Party should establish monitoring mechanisms for the investigation and redress of children’s rights violations, with a view to improving accountability and transparency.

The Committee urges Honduras to ensure the provision of qualified and independent legal aid for children in conflict with the law at an early stage of the procedure and throughout the legal proceedings, and also to promptly investigate and prosecute cases of death during detention and provide information on the measures taken to address those cases.

The Committee is concerned that the police and prosecution are still allowed to arbitrarily detain children, based on their presumed affiliation to Maras or their appearance, which results in the further stigmatization of these children.

Honduras has realized several trainings for officials and employees of the judiciary and civil servants but not for all professionals working with children as the Committee recommends. And despite all the measures taken by the State party, the Committee is deeply concerned about the increasing number of poor households and geographic disparities in access to water and sanitation, which primarily affect indigenous and Afro-Honduran children. It is also concerned about the high level of chronic malnutrition, which affects twice as many children in rural areas as children in urban areas.

The Committee is also concerned about the creation of the Guardians of the Fatherland programme, aimed at training 25,000 children at social risk annually, under which children participate in activities carried out by military units and in installations of the armed forces. They recommend to abandon the Guardians of the Fatherland programme and ensure that children and adolescents do not participate in activities carried out in battalions and other military installations, and instead promote community and education-sector participation in the formation of values and prevention of violence.