Crea Honduras and UNITEC partner to advance development

noviembre 28, 2018

By Jillian Slutzker

2 lectura mínima

Crea Honduras and the Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana (UNITEC), one of the principal private universities in the country affiliated with the Laureate International network, will partner to advance social and economic development, it was announced.

“We consider the alliance with the academy as an important collaboration model, and we value the dynamics of UNITEC with whom we will develop projects that emphasize institutional strengthening, juventud, technology and social inclusion, » says Crea Honduras head Susana Ferrera, an economist and experienced international development practitioner who has worked extensively in community development and workforce development with a variety of donors, NGOs and private sector partners.

«Our mission as Crea Honduras is to support the people and communities of this country, and to do this, we propose using innovation and technology to influence social development,” she adds.

The Oct. 25 agreement unites the UNITEC’s research acumen, educational excellence and technical knowledge in business, entrepreneurship and technology with Crea Honduras’ expertise backed up by Creative Associates International’s 41 years of experience in education, social and economic development, corporate social responsibility, citizen security and violence prevention, as well its ability to implement complex projects in challenging environments.

Crea Honduras and UNITEC will develop a joint research agenda, and partner in developing and implementing social initiatives. The first project will be aimed at the institutional strengthening of national organizations.

Continuing a legacy of development results

Officially launched in August, Crea Honduras and neighboring Crea El Salvador build on Creative Associates International’s robust experience implementing sustainable development programming over three decades in Central America.

Creative is currently implementing seven projects across the region, including in El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and the Caribbean. These projects focus on preventing crime and violence, improving technical education and training, raising incomes for small-holder farmers and more.

The Honduras and El Salvador Crea subsidiaries draw upon the evidence-driven expertise of Creative in the region and serve as agile, flexible and innovative implementers of development programs, collaborating with a variety of donors and partners to tackle the region’s most pressing challenges.

In addition to its partnership with UNITEC, Crea Honduras recently piloted an innovative prevention program in collaboration with the Honduran government’s Deputy Secretariat of Security for Prevention.

Centroamérica – Alianza Regional de Jóvenes

Programa

2 lectura mínima

After its successful Youth Alliance Program in Guatemala that used mentoring, internships and job training to address gangs and gang violence, Creative was awarded the Regional Youth Alliance project in 2008 by the U.S. Agencia para el Desarrollo Internacional. It focused on three Central American countries: El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Known in Central America as Alianza Joven Regional, it used Creative’s successful methods in establishing community-based public-private alliances to leverage support, both in-kind and financial, for crime and violence prevention activities for youth.

Working through multi-sectoral alliances at all government levels, the project supported crime prevention, reinsertion and integration activities to decrease community vulnerability to crime and violence risk factors. It encouraged broad community participation through municipal crime prevention committees whose membership includes representatives from municipal governments, the private sector, civil society, and faith-based organizations and whose function is to identify risk factors in each municipality.

The project also served as a vehicle to assess regional legal frameworks and practices to promote multi-country policy and reform to promote a cohesive regional response to the gang problem and provides technical assistance to the Central American Integration System.

In its four years, the Regional Youth Alliance project awarded grants to organizations in 66 targeted communities that worked with gangs and gang prevention. The grants reached nearly 300 community leaders and served 6,000 at-risk youth.

The program also developed a successful job placement initiative, based on Creative’s Challenge 100 program in Guatemala which provided former gang members with mentors and job training. It grew out of Challenge 10—Peace for the EX^®, an innovative program that was also broadcast as a reality TV series. Cerca de 450 rehabilitated gang members obtained permanent employment through the program.

Guatemala – Programa Desafío Juvenil (YCP)

Programa

2 lectura mínima

en guatemala, youth face limited opportunities for education, job training and employment. As a result, many young people have turned to membership in gangs, which has resulted in political and social instability and a rise in crime.

Through a previous program, the USAID-funded Guatemala Youth Alliance Program, Creative provided second chances to vulnerable Guatemalan youth and former gang members through unique education and employment programs including seven new youth outreach centers staffed by former gang members and entrepreneurship trainings and competitions.

Based on the promising results of the Guatemala Youth Alliance Program, en 2008 USAID awarded Creative the Youth Challenge Program. The goal of the Youth Challenge Program, or Programa Desafio Joven, was to develop violence prevention initiatives to reduce crime and violence in high risk communities in and around Guatemala city, helping to improve the lives of Guatemala’s vulnerable and at-risk youth—a group that makes up nearly 66 percent of the country’s total population.

With a focus on impoverished youth who live in neighborhoods with high unemployment and limited job training opportunities, the program provided positive alternatives to street life and crime.

The Youth Challenge Program established Alianza Joven, a local NGO that continues to provide services to at-risk youth in Guatemala. The program also established 11 new youth outreach centers, bringing the total number of outreach centers in Guatemala to 18.

Helping former gang member to transition out of violence to better and more stable lives for their families and communities, the Youth Challenge Program placed 100 former gang members in jobs and provided tattoo removal and psychosocial services to former gang members and their families.

En 2009, the program established the Youth Movement Against Violence as a way to raise awareness of violence prevention in the country. The Movement has now been registered in country as an NGO and has since spread to all seven Central American countries and is operating regionally through Youth Against Violence-Central America.

The movement’s campaigns included “90 Minutes Against Violence,” a series of three soccer matches between teams including former gang members, government officials, politicians, business leaders, community members, artists and professional soccer players. The game, which drew more than 10,000 spectators and received national coverage, was part of a campaign aimed at involving youth in making violence prevention recommendations and strategies.

Guatemala – Youth Alliance Program (YAP)

Programa

2 lectura mínima

Through the Guatemala Youth Alliance Program, Creative provided opportunities for vulnerable youth and former gang members through education and employment programs.

Working in some of Guatemala’s most violent neighborhoods, the USAID-funded program formed new alliances with faith-based and community organizations to provide opportunities for youth, including education, skills training, and options for constructive use of free time as a means of dissuading youths from joining gangs. Creative opened seven outreach centers, many managed by former gang members, accommodating more than 600 daily participants. With the help of community volunteers at the centers, youth improved their educational and career skills.

En 2006, the Youth Alliance Program launched “Challenge: 10 -Peace for the Ex.” Challenge 10 was a unique employment and public awareness project that supported two groups of five former gang members competing to create two businesses under the guidance of two prominent businessmen. Launched as a reality television series, Challenge 10 drew international media attention and resulted in the creation of shoe repair and car wash businesses, which continue to thrive.

The success of Challenge 10 helped initiate Challenge 100 – Peace for Guatemala. Challenge 100 paired 100 former gang members with local businesses that provided them with on-the-job training. Both Challenge 10 and Challenge 100 were widely supported with resources including funding, mentoring and job training provided by the private sector, a local university and the government. Engaging the private sector’s support in the transformation of former gang members from jobless youth to reliable workers speaks to Creative’s holistic approach to helping former gang members lead legitimate and productive lives.

GUATEMALA: Historic Soccer Match Between Former Gang Members and Government Officials

diciembre 15, 2009

3 lectura mínima

A crowd of 10,000 turned out to cheer as 15 former gang members spilled out onto Guatemala’s Mateo Flores National Stadium to face a team of government officials including the Chief of Police, the Minister of Culture, the Presidential Sports Commissioner, police officers, firemen, and two Armed Forces Generals in an historic soccer match. The event kicked off a multi-faceted “90 Minutes Against Violence” campaign ultimately aimed at engaging Guatemalan youth in making specific recommendations for reducing violent crime.

“The former gang members beamed with pride as they came out of the locker room onto the field, while the Guatemalan anthem played,” said Harold Sibaja, Director of the Youth Challenge Program. The Program has supported the creation of the Youth Movement Against Crime, which is responsible for the Campaign. Financiado por los EE.UU.. Agencia para el Desarrollo Internacional, and implemented by Creative Associates International, Inc., the Youth Challenge Program has been designing unique interventions for youth-at-risk since 2003.

The “90 Minutes Against Violence” match included three games of 20 minutes each (Former Gang Members vs. Government Officials, Private Sector vs. Politicians and Diplomats, and Artists and Faith Based Organizations vs. Professional Soccer Players). The match’s last 30 minutes was played among the best players of the three first games. Although the first game’s ending score was 0-0, the crowd was equally delighted with the three subsequent matches. Theatrics helped to drive home the Campaign’s message. In the last match, players purposely broke game rules sending the ball to the wrong goal post and other antics, causing an outcry from fans. The interlude reinforced that without concern for rules, chaos reigns making all equally losers.

The games drew national coverage, focusing attention on the sobering fact that there is a murder every 90 minutes in Guatemala. The country’s homicide rate has soared from 26 per 100,000 inhabitants at the end of the country’s protracted conflict in 1996 a 46 per 100,000 today. The U.S. national murder rate, by comparison, stands at 5.6 per 100,000.

The Youth Movement’s “90 Minutes Against Violence” is reaching beyond traditional media outlets to speak directly to Guatemalan youth who are disproportionately both the victims and perpetrators of violent crime. “Every goal scored in this game symbolized a collective point scored for Guatemala against violence,” said Sibaja who leads Creative Associates’ Youth-at-Risk initiatives in Guatemala and the Latin American region. “With examples such as former gang members and police officers playing side by side, the message of the game was clear — Guatemalans united from every walk of life can combat violence and do not have to accept living with insecurity as the norm.”

With government, private sector leaders and ordinary Guatemalans now speaking up and reinvesting in their communities, “90 Minutes” is not limiting itself to a soccer stadium. The Youth Movement Against Violence organized by USAID’s Youth Challenge Program has literally taken the campaign on the road. Starting October 17th, every weekend for four weeks a bus has traveled through Guatemala City’s most dangerous neighborhoods, including “El Mezquital” where several police officers were recently killed by gang members. Members of the Congress of the Republic, celebrity professional athletes and business leaders aboard the bus are carrying out a “Dignified Life for Youth” campaign to reinforce the anti-violence message.

“Another activity planned countrywide for this campaign is ‘90 Dialogues Against Violence’ to get Guatemalan youth to reflect on violence and to propose solutions to decrease criminal activity,” Sibaja added. “Through these dialogues, we hope to study the cause of juvenile violence using principles — diversity, creativity, compromise, tolerance, unity, active listening — to initiate discussions and impart knowledge. Ultimately, the dialogues will achieve a multiplier effect by having participants impart lessons learned to their peers.”

The Youth Movement’s campaign is also planning a major concert to bring young Guatemalans together with the unifying appeal of popular music. The campaign’s goal is to support the draft of a policy paper that incorporates feedback from youth and all sectors of society. The Coalition for a Dignified Youth created under the Youth Challenge Program is using the proposals generated by youth to develop recommendations for a crime prevention public policy paper. The Campaign is a tangible way for young people to make their voices heard on the problems faced by disenfranchised youth in the hope of bringing them into the mainstream to end the cycle of violence in Guatemala.[/vc_column_text][/columna_vc][vc_columna ancho=»1/12″][/columna_vc][vc_columna ancho=»1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=»barra lateral-primaria»][/columna_vc][/vc_row]