Law of the National Children's Congress Single Title Single Chapter

The purpose of this Law is to regulate the design, implementation, and review of the NATIONAL CHILDREN'S CONGRESS, in accordance with the Honduran legal framework for the comprehensive protection of children and the precepts established in the Constitution of the Republic.

In accordance with the pillars established in the Constitution of the Republic of Honduras and the American Convention on Human Rights, as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the following principles are established:

• 1)

  Best Interest: In the National Children's Congress, the implementation of measures of care, social welfare, health, and all other essential measures representing the importance of the best interest of the child shall prevail at each stage of its development and at all times;

• 2)

  Freedom of Opinion: Child Congresspersons have full and complete freedom to express their opinions and form their own judgment, on equal terms during the prior development stage and during the celebration of the National Children's Congress, this being a point of importance, listening to their contributions on matters that affect childhood according to their age and maturity;

• 3)

  Equality and Non-Discrimination: Within the framework of the scope of application and development of all stages of the National Children's Congress to be held, each Congressperson shall be taken into account without any distinction, regardless of race, color, sex, language, religion, political opinion or other opinion, ethnic origin, social origin, economic position, special capacities, or any other physical condition or place of origin of each Congressperson, their parents, or their representatives, with this National Children's Congress complying with what is established in the Convention on the Rights of the Child;

• 4)

  Transparency: The National Children's Congress is a legislative democratic exercise that shall be publicized through all avenues that the Social Agenda of the Presidency of the National Congress deems appropriate for access to information;

• 5)

  Traceability: The National Children's Congress is oriented to provide systematic and orderly monitoring of all prior and subsequent processes generated, including monitoring of child congresspersons;

• 6)

  Publicity: The development of the National Children's Congress, both in its legislative stage and in its recreational and academic stage, must be made accessible to the Honduran people through appropriate dissemination in the country's communication media from its planning through subsequent monitoring;

• 7)

  Due Diligence: The National Congress of the Republic must be diligent and timely in giving legislative treatment to the different initiatives arising from the National Children's Congress;

• 8)

  Innovation: The National Children's Congress must always be an opportunity to incorporate innovative solutions in the technical, logistical, financial, and social aspects; in order to achieve this principle, work jointly with national and international cooperation organizations; and,

• 9)

  Non-Simulation: The active participation of boys and girls of Honduras on an equal footing and without any discrimination in making real legislative decisions is a fundamental pillar of the National Children's Congress.

The National Children's Congress shall have its seat in the Capital of the Republic, without prejudice to the President of the National Congress acting directly or through the Social Agenda of the Presidency of the National Congress, as the governing entity, deciding to move its seat or hold sessions in another place of the Republic, following the procedures and security considerations established in this Law.

For the installation of the National Children's Congress, Child Congresspersons previously selected by the State Secretary in the Education Office shall be convened each year to hold their legislative sessions on any date prior to the second week of October.

The organs of the National Children's Congress are:

• 1)

  The Plenary of Child Congresspersons;

• 2)

  The Directing Board;

• 3)

  The caucuses of child congresspersons; and,

• 4)

  The Legislative Opinion Commissions.

The Plenary of the National Children's Congress is the highest authority for decision-making of the Infant Legislative Branch and is composed of one hundred twenty-eight (128) Congresspersons from the different departments of Honduran territory.

The Directing Board is the organ that directs the legislative session, elected by simple majority vote of the Congresspersons. The Infant Directing Board is composed of one (1) President, five (5) Vice-Presidents, and five (5) Secretaries equivalent to eleven (11) members of the Directing Board.

The Directing Board of the National Children's Congress shall exercise its functions until the installation of the following National Children's Congress.

The attributions of the Directing Board are:

• 1)

  Coordinate legislative activities;

• 2)

  Establish its meeting agenda to address and resolve matters that in accordance with this Law correspond to it; and,

• 3)

  Distribute Congresspersons among the different Legislative Opinion Commissions.

The attributions of the President of the National Children's Congress are:

• 1)

  Open, suspend, and close the Plenary session;

• 2)

  Maintain and call to order in the Plenary session those Congresspersons who deviate from the matter under discussion;

• 3)

  Grant the floor in successive order to Congresspersons who request it, as well as suspend its use;

• 4)

  Refer Bills to the corresponding Commissions or special Commissions;

• 5)

  Sign the minutes, decrees, and other resolutions of the National Children's Congress; and,

• 6)

  Create Special Commissions for matters of special interest.

The Caucuses of Child Congresspersons: Once the National Children's Congress is installed, the respective child caucuses must be formed, which shall be distributed equitably among congresspersons from the eighteen (18) departments, for the sole purpose of forming the slates for elections of the Directing Board, electing a child representative responsible for directing consensus in the different caucuses.

The Caucuses of Child Congresspersons are:

• 1)

  CHILDHOOD AND JUSTICE CAUCUS: Its vision is to defend the human rights of boys and girls in all areas and its objective is to guarantee the comprehensive development of each Honduran child with a justice-for-children approach;

• 2)

  OUR CULTURE CAUCUS: Its vision is to defend national identity, the promotion of national culture, the recovery of the history, customs and traditions of indigenous peoples; whose objective is to give children the opportunity to enjoy cultural human rights; and,

• 3)

  GREEN HONDURAS CAUCUS: Its vision is characterized by the value of responsibility and respect for nature, and its main objective is that in Honduras flora and fauna are preserved, restored, and protected for all, especially so that Honduran children enjoy a clean and healthy environment.

The Commissions of the National Children's Congress are the following:

• 1)

  Child Health Commission;

• 2)

  Child Education Commission;

• 3)

  Comprehensive Safety Commission for Children;

• 4)

  Comprehensive Development Commission;

• 5)

  Inclusion Commission for Boys and Girls;

• 6)

  Access to Technology Commission for Children;

• 7)

  Opportunities Commission for Children;

• 8)

  Proposal Monitoring Commission; and,

• 9)

  Justice and Human Rights Commission. The Commissions are composed of child congresspersons to address matters assigned to them by the President in order to issue opinions regarding projects presented in the National Children's Congress.

The rights of child congresspersons are:

• 1)

  Participate with voice and vote in the Plenary sessions;

• 2)

  Integrate an Infant Legislative Commission and participate with voice and vote in it;

• 3)

  Present legislative initiatives, motions, and statements in compliance with the requirements established in this Law; and,

• 4)

  Receive technical-legal and other assistance for the fulfillment of their functions and obligations.

The duties of child congresspersons are:

• 1)

  Attend the Plenary session and the Commission of which they are a member;

• 2)

  Participate in the preparation of opinions;

• 3)

  Exercise the assignments or representations that the President or the Plenary may have designated to them;

• 4)

  Vote in the plenary sessions in which they are present;

• 5)

  Express, debate, and reach solutions and recommendations in the Infant Commission to which they belong;

• 6)

  Represent the boys and girls of their Educational Center, as well as of the Municipality and Department by which they were selected; and,

• 7)

  Participate in one (1) or more events per year, at the Municipal or Departmental level, to share the legislative experience of the National Children's Congress, in order to promote the participation of other students.

The organs responsible for the organization of the National Children's Congress are:

• 1)

  Social Agenda of the Presidency of the National Congress;

• 2)

  Office of the Presidency of the National Congress;

• 3)

  Legislative Management of the National Congress;

• 4)

  State Department of Education; and,

• 5)

  Other departments of the National Congress at the call of the Social Agenda of the Presidency. The organs listed above constitute the Organizing Committee which shall be convened and presided over by the Social Agenda of the Presidency of the National Congress.

The Social Agenda of the Presidency of the National Congress is the governing body for the administration of the National Children's Congress, as well as for the direction, coordination and organization of the departments that support the administrative structure to fulfill the development and functioning of the Children's Congress. The National Congress of the Republic must design an efficient mechanism for making payments arising from the National Children's Congress.

The Social Agenda of the Presidency of the National Congress shall form the Organizing Committee of the National Children's Congress, which shall be composed of the internal departments of the National Congress, as well as state institutions, which have the obligation to accompany the directives of the Social Agenda for the full development of the National Children's Congress. The foregoing is understood without prejudice to the participation that other national institutions, civil society organizations and foreign organizations may provide in collaboration.

The Special Oversight Committee of the National Children's Congress shall be appointed by the President of the National Congress of the Republic, in order to report on the initiatives presented in the National Children's Congress.

Once the National Children's Congress has concluded, the Child Representatives may carry out activities in their municipalities and departments to promote and publicize their work during their tenure in the National Children's Congress, aimed at promoting the benefit of the legislative experience to other students in their communities. The municipal and state authorities of each Department must provide support to the Child Representatives, in order to carry out sessions and events where respect for the rights of Honduran children is fostered.

The National Children's Congress through the Social Agenda of the Presidency shall present at each year-end and no later than the second week of August; an Accountability Report of the legislative activities carried out with the Child Representatives from the previous period.

The National Congress of the Republic must ensure that, during the development of the National Children's Congress, the Child Representatives have preferential access to all physical spaces of the National Congress of the Republic, so that, without any limitation, they may develop the legislative sessions within it, enabling an environment of harmony, security and coexistence among them. All state media, whether television, print, radio or digital, must collaborate with the dissemination of activities prior to, during and after the National Children's Congress.

Repeal Legislative Decree No. 125-2004 of September 7, 2004, published in the Official Journal "La Gaceta" No. 30,522, dated October 18, 2004.

The National Congress of the Republic must create the technological tool that contains the Database System, in order to monitor the development of the National Children's Congress, as well as the information and personal data contained in the personal file, obtained from the Child Representatives.

The National Congress of the Republic, within a period not exceeding ninety (90) days after the approval of this Law, must issue the Regulations for the Selection, Integration, Administration, Development and Functioning of the National Children's Congress.

This Decree shall come into force as of its publication in the Official Journal "La Gaceta". Given in the city of Tegucigalpa, municipality of the Central District, in the Session Hall of the National Congress, on the twenty-first day of the month of February of two thousand twenty-four. LUIS ROLANDO REDONDO GUIFARRO PRESIDENT LUZ ANGÉLICA SMITH MEJÍA SECRETARY LINDA FRANCÉS DONAIRE PORTILLO SECRETARY To the Executive Power. Therefore: Execute. Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., February 27, 2024. IRIS XIOMARA CASTRO SARMIENTO PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC THE STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF EDUCATION