On 3 June 2025, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), together with Honduras’ Ministry of Education, convened an interagency consultation to support the development of Honduras’s first protocol for the prevention and response to the presence of firearms in schools.
In addition to members of the Technical Working Group from the education sector and school police, the meeting brought together representatives from key national institutions, including the National Human Rights Commission (CONADEH), the National Institute for the Care of Juvenile Offenders (INAMI), the Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and Families (SENAF), the Honduran Drug Observatory and civil society organizations, such as Casa-Alianza and Movimiento Global. Around 40 individuals attended the roundtable meeting.
The primary objective of the meeting was to present progress made in drafting the protocol. Key developments which were shared included the formation of a Technical Working Group led by the Ministry of Education, the launch of a nationwide survey for school administrators, and the development of a situational analysis on the presence of firearms in schools.
The working group has also welcomed a subject matter expert to provide technical support in drafting the protocol.
The second objective of the consultation was to foster collective reflection and gather diverse institutional perspectives on the risks and contributing factors associated with the presence of firearms in schools. Participants also examined existing tools and procedures which address such threats.
Beyond the updates presented by UNLIREC and the Ministry of Education on advances and next steps, the meeting featured a series of presentations on preventative initiatives. These included public awareness campaigns such as “Without Guns, More Peace” and “Disarmed and Educated” spearheaded by the United Nations Development Programme, the Community Police, and the civil society group Youth Against Violence. The School Police also shared their experience creating workshops and educational materials aimed at preventing and addressing rights violations affecting children and adolescents in school settings. This part of the meeting sparked a dynamic discussion about concrete actions to be included in the implementation of the Protocol.
The meeting concluded with the identification of new opportunities for coordination among participating entities, along with a roadmap outlining next steps. A draft of the Protocol is expected to be finalized and presented during a series of outreach workshops in September and October 2025.
This consultation is part of a broader set of activities led by UNLIREC and the Ministry of Education under the global SALIENT initiative (Saving-Lives Entity), implemented by UNLIREC and UNDP Honduras. The initiative aims to improve citizen security by strengthening arms control policies and frameworks to prevent armed violence across the country.