The U.S. Agency for International Development-funded El Salvador Violence and Crime Prevention Project improved the ability of communities, municipalities and national institutions to address violent crime.
Building on Creative’s success with violence prevention programs elsewhere in Central America, this five-year project reached more than 53,000 Salvadorans through community-focused initiatives in 55 Salvadoran municipalities.
Creative collaborated with the government of El Salvador to develop the National System for the Prevention of Violence Law. It also assisted the government with the implementation of the National Strategy for Violence Prevention, a vital document that set country-wide policy and empowered municipalities to take the lead on prevention projects. Creative helped implement the strategy by carrying out diagnostics and creating crime and violence prevention plans in a total of 41 municipalities.
At the municipal level, Creative developed a complete diagnostic guide incorporating 13 risk factors to identify issues facing youth. Creative used this information to develop crime and violence prevention plans, which created solutions for at-risk youth through prevention tools and programming.
More than 20,000 youth and community members benefited from 123 outreach centers, which boast a total of 704 volunteers. More than 3,200 youth received employment orientation training, while 872 youth across 12 municipalities participated in Youth Clubs, which promote art, music, dance clubs and outdoor activities.
