Institutional Comprehensive Protection Strategy Against Child Begging and its Health Implications in Guatemala City
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Abstract
Introduction: child begging in Guatemala constitutes an urban form of labor exploitation that undermines children’s integral development and reveals structural weaknesses in social protection and rights restoration systems.
Objective: to design an institutional comprehensive protection strategy to address child begging, based on the identification of weaknesses and strengths within the existing institutional response.
Methods: a qualitative study with a descriptive-analytical scope and a socio-critical approach was conducted through documentary review and semi-structured interviews with professionals from institutions responsible for child protection (n=7). The data were analyzed using thematic content analysis, enabling the identification of categories related to structural causes, institutional response, and protection mechanisms.
Results: the diagnosis revealed institutional fragmentation, absence of standardized protocols, weak statistical monitoring, and operational limitations, alongside strengths related to the existing legal framework, institutional technical capacity, and active social programs. Based on these findings, a comprehensive institutional strategy was designed to strengthen intersectoral coordination, standardize intervention routes, improve monitoring systems, and promote community-based prevention.
Conclusions: the consolidation of comprehensive institutional strategies is essential to overcome fragmented responses, enhance interinstitutional coordination, and ensure effective protection of children's rights in urban contexts of vulnerability.
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