Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly's General Debate, Guatemala's foreign affairs minister said the influx of undocumented immigrant children to the United States should not be considered a crime.

"This [Central American child migrants] crisis, provoked by diverse factors both in Central America and the United States, has warned us about the need of accelerating the path towards greater prosperity, in particular for children and adolescents," Carlos Raul Morales said to the UN General Assembly.

Morales was speaking about economic, security and social advances in Guatemala, but he noted some "higher profile" challenges that remained an issue for the Central American country. Morales acknowledged the migration of Central American children toward the U.S. and Mexico border. He called for the U.S. to comply with a calculated action to ease the migration of unaccompanied, undocumented minors.

"We trust that the peoples and government of the United States understand that the migrant crisis requires a strategic response which attacks the structural roots of this phenomenon and offers sustained actions," Morales said. "This implies working together to promote greater shared prosperity in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, and a lucid management of temporal work for migrants that satisfies the demands of the labor market in the United States and the supply of workers from Central America."

Morales said it's important to adopt necessary efforts to resolve the situation of undocumented immigrants entering the U.S., but "We must avoid criminalizing migrants, because migration is neither a sin nor a crime." Morales said human trafficking networks, which are guilty of corruption, extortion, kidnapping and sexual abuse are to blame for the migration crisis.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection agency disclosed its border patrol agents encountered 16,528 unaccompanied immigrant children between Oct. 31, 2013 and Aug. 31, 2014. The rate of unaccompanied Guatemalan children entering the U.S. is the second highest behind Honduras' 17,975 unaccompanied minors. El Salvador ranked third with 15,800 encounters.

The migration of Guatemala minors is not the only issue the country has encountered involving children. According to Morales, Guatemala has begun to "prevail" in the battle against chronic malnourishment among children. Based on an independent study, Morales said Guatemala's "Zero Hunger" initiative reduced chronic malnourishment by two percent within one year. If the trend continues through the end of President Otto Perez Molina's presidency, chronic malnourishment in Guatemala will be at its lowest levels since 1985.

The Guatemalan speech comes after El Salvador and Honduras addressed the U.N. General Assembly Hall. El Salvador President Salvador Sánchez Cerén referred to the migration crisis as a "multi-causal phenomenon" that will require a comprehensive approach to protect the minors. Meanwhile, Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez recognized the "unusual" increase in children migrating north. Hernandez said the issues in his country are not Honduras' fault but due to problems in the "drug consuming countries in the north" and "drug producing countries in the south."

UNGA - United Nations General Assembly Guatemala Foreign Affairs Minister Speech:

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