HONDURAS: Two New Outreach Centers Provide Safe Havens for At-Risk Youth

June 11, 2009

3 min read

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HONDURAS:

Two New Outreach Centers Provide Safe Havens for At-Risk Youth

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Two Outreach Centers serving at-risk youth were inaugurated on June 11, 2009 in Honduras through the Creative Associates-implemented USAID-SICA program.

The newest Outreach Centers are among a total of 17 in Central America established by Creative Associates International, Inc. of Washington, D.C. Outreach Centers provide a safe and constructive environment for vulnerable youth who are at risk of being recruited by gangs or coerced into the drug trade in neighborhoods with high rates of delinquency and violence.

More than 700 young people of all ages are expected to benefit from the new Outreach Centers supported by USAID-SICA, Save the Children Honduras and the Rotary Clubs of Tegucigalpa in the neighborhoods of Villafranca and Buenas Nuevas of Comayagüela in Tegucigalpa, the capital. Creative has also established an Outreach Center in Rivera Hernandez in San Pedro Sula.

In addition to Honduras, the USAID-SICA program is implemented in Guatemala and El Salvador and serves as a catalyst for regional solutions to address youth gang violence, including looking for common policies and best practices. Creative efforts also help rehabilitate and prevent youth from falling prey to gangs through successful participatory approaches.

USAID-SICA is a joint program between the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Central American Integration System (SICA).

The Outreach Centers are “true sanctuaries for youth of these communities afflicted by violence and gangs,” said U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens. “It is important to support efforts in the alliances between civil society, private enterprise, churches, NGOs and other actors, since they are all seeking a solution to involvement of Honduran youths in crime.”

The Outreach Center approach, which has been successfully implemented by Creative throughout the Central America region, offers sports, arts and entertainment activities to young beneficiaries and provides job training, academic tutoring, and enables youth to develop life skills with the aim of diminishing dropout rates. Outreach Center activities are undertaken under the leadership of a network of neighborhood volunteers. This methodology unites communities and teaches youth that they can be agents of change in their communities.

According to USAID, Honduras is the third-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 42.6 percent of its people living on $2 a day. About 40 percent of Hondurans are unemployed or underemployed, with predictable consequences in terms of crime, especially among marginalized youth. Consequently, the Outreach Centers offer training in computers, hands-on courses in the repair of household appliances and bicycles, sewing and tailoring, hairdressing, among other courses.

The Villafranca and Buenas Nuevas of Comayagüela Outreach Centers will operate under the direction of Save the Children Honduras, which has a history of working in the neighborhood and its surrounding areas.

German Barahona, a community leader in Villafranca said: “This Center will contribute to breaking barriers between neighborhood volunteers and youths and give young people a chance to share, grow, learn and become new leaders committed to preventing violence.”

Save the Children Honduras has been working in the country since 1968 supporting communities to plan and implement integrated development programs that improve the quality of life for Hondurans. The project also has support from seven Rotary Clubs of the Tegucigalpa Central District

For more information about the USAID-SICA Program, contact Project Director, Salvador Stadthagen at [email protected].

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EL SALVADOR: Outreach Centers Enable Youth to Learn New Skills

June 8, 2009

3 min read

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EL SALVADOR:

Outreach Centers Enable Youth to Learn New Skills

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Back in the 1990s, Pastor Carlos Artiga called himself “Flash,” after a TV superhero who confronted villains with super-human powers. But Artiga, a member of the notorious 18th Street gang at the time, was no hero.

Today, however, he is helping society as Pastor of the Abba Patter Evangelical Ministry and director of an Outreach Center which serves young people whom he understands all too well – youth-at-risk in San Salvador’s Lourdes barrio. The center called “Por Mi Barrio” or For My Neighborhood, serves 280 youth daily, many of whom come at Artiga’s invitation.

The Lourdes Por Mi Barrio is one of 14 such centers established in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras by Creative Associates International, Inc. of Washington, D.C. with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development and donors including the Rotary Club and IBIS, among others.

These centers have been established through the Youth Challenge Alliance Program of USAID/Guatemala and the Regional Youth Alliance USAID-SICA programs. The programs are based on a Creative methodology that seeks to help reduce the level of gang activity in Central America by engaging youth in skills-building and vocational training.

“Creative Associates has developed a new philosophy with the Outreach Centers,” said Harold Sibaja, Chief of Party of Creative’s Youth Challenge Alliance program in Guatemala. “The beneficiaries who come to the Centers learn about computers, arts, sports or just to meet other youth, get trained in leadership, conflict management and community service.

“Our intent is to develop a new leadership that promotes a culture of life in contrast to the culture of death and fear that reigns in many of these communities,” Sibaja said. “Next month Guatemala will open 10 new Outreach Centers. By December 2009, there will be 37 Centers in operation in the three countries. With these additional Centers we expect to serve a population of more than 9,000 youth.”

Salvador Stadthagen, based in El Salvador, director for the Regional Youth Alliance USAID-SICA, said the Centers are emerging as low-cost sustainable alternatives that rely heavily on community volunteers who engage at-risk youth in productive activities. More than 4,000 young people and 300 volunteers are already part of the Outreach Center effort in the three countries.

Orphaned at age 11 and without family or guidance, Artiga fit the profile of youth who are vulnerable to gang recruitment. He joined 18th Street at age 17 in 1993 in search of security and a surrogate family. But gang life failed to fill the void. Artiga felt alone and betrayed by friends. “I was addicted to crack, and ended up with lots of gunshot wounds,” Artiga said.

Through a chance encounter, he met a stranger who told him about Jesus and redemption. Artiga joined the church and found a way out of gang life and a way to do good for society and himself.

“The role of the church was huge in my ability to reform,” Artiga said. “The church enabled me to take theology classes, helped me find a job, became my family, my community and support.”

Heidi Moran, a coordinator at the Santa Caterina Pinula Por Mi Barrio center in Guatemala, arrived at the center in May 2007 and says, “I joined the center because I fell in love with the idea that youth have somewhere to go everyday, see the same people and have a routine.

“The youth must understand that coming to the outreach center requires them to change certain aspects of their lives,” Moran said. “Their outlook is often limited to 25 years of age. If they join a gang, their lifespan will be cut short, so we try to have them establish long-term goals.”

—Alexandra Pratt and Linda Adami[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

HONDURAS: USAID-SICA Juvenile Justice Forum Enables Cooperation

December 15, 2008

3 min read

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HONDURAS:

USAID-SICA Juvenile Justice Forum Enables Cooperation

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Over the past 18 months, 6,621 youth, many from rural areas, have undergone a unique workforce skills development training through the Accelerated Skills Acquisition Program (ASAP), made possible with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

A 28-month initiative, ASAP is designed to strengthen the workforce skills and marketability of unemployed Sri Lankan youth, while improving the quality of training they receive at vocational training centers. ASAP is implemented by Creative Associates International, Inc.

“The difference between ASAP and someone you hire off the street is that ASAP candidates are able to work as a team, show commitment. They have a plan, a goal, a vision,” said Susil de Alwis, general manager of The Privilege Hotel, who says he has a difficult time finding qualified personnel, despite an unemployment rate of six percent. Thanks to ASAP, the pool of qualified applicants has improved.

“One of the boys I hired came from an extremely poor village,” Alwis said. “Having little exposure to the job market, he had little confidence in his abilities. But having gone through ASAP, he now has the potential to be a general manager. I think ASAP motivates people to go to greater heights.”

Western Sri Lanka provides 51 percent of the country’s GDP, while the rest of the country’s eight and mostly rural provinces make up the other 49 percent. This imbalance comes from inadequate education opportunities for rural youth, which impacts economic opportunities for that region.

Many youth also lack a fundamental understanding of the job market. “They [rural youth] thought that private organizations were for posh people only, and people from Colombo,” said Neil Bogahalande, General Manager, Group Human Resources of the Browns Group describing his experience working with ASAP beneficiaries.

“We told them, gone are the days when an employer paid you a favor by giving you employment,” Bogahalande said. “The employer is not doing you a favor by hiring you, the job is a mutual benefit to both of you and there is no need to feel inferior or bad about asking for employment. You are giving your services.”

ASAP’s training is helping to change attitudes. ASAP’s custom-made curriculum can be applied for a five-day, ten-day or twenty-day period of training. The training benefits disenfranchised youth seeking economic opportunity and trainers and employers who are also trained by ASAP at the project’s collaborating vocational centers or businesses.

“As a trainer, I have found ASAP to be very different and impactful from other more traditional trainings,” said Ms. R. Subajini, the Career Guidance Officer at the Batticaloa Technical College. “ASAP is very specific, in that it focuses on the skills required in the job market, skills lacking in our country.

According to management at the Institute for Data Management, an ASAP training partner which specializes in computer education, the program provided a wide range of opportunities to reinforce for students the importance of education, teaching them effective communications skills as well as confidence building exercises.

To those who have undergone training, ASAP has proven to be a very motivating factor and a way forward amid Sri Lanka’s stagnating economy.

“I want to extend my gratitude to USAID/ASAP for giving me this opportunity I was incapable of expressing myself in public. I was very shy but today I’m here addressing you. It is an honor addressing you all with such confidence. I overcame my lack of self-confidence through ASAP,” said Harshini Dhramasinghe, Trainer at the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority in Anuradhapura. “I remember the day when I joined ASAP. When asked to speak out, I could not express myself. I could not set goals and didn’t know how to face an interview. ASAP built my self-confidence, now I’m ready to face the global market place.“

Alexandra Pratt with assistance from the ASAP team in Sri Lanka.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

GUATEMALA: Ten Former Gang Members Get a New Start as Pepsi Employees

December 9, 2008

4 min read

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GUATEMALA:

Ten Former Gang Members Get a New Start as Pepsi Employees

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When Dervyn Hernandez started his new job at Pepsi Centroamerica in Guatemala, Human Resources Manager Fernando Letona, told only other managers about the young man’s past life as a gang member.

But Hernandez’s hard work soon caught the attention of several coworkers. Along with growing acceptance of Hernandez, came the realization that former gang members like him can be helped with job opportunities.

Pepsi soon hired nine more former gang members – an unprecedented effort for the soft drink maker to help these young men start new lives.

It all began nearly two years ago when Harold Sibaja, Creative Associates Regional Director of Latin America, met with leading Guatemalan businesses to encourage them to hire former gang members. Sibaja, a leading expert on gangs, directs the USAID Youth Challenge Alliance Program (YCP), and its Desafio 200 activity, also known as Challenge 200. It helps gang members turn their lives around by giving them a stake in society through opportunities in corporations and participation in initiatives through community and religious organizations.

“At the time USAID/YCP had 100 at-risk young men who they wanted to place with private employers, and Pepsi Centroamerica thought that one of them could work with us,” Letona said. “Sometimes you have to take the risk. Really, it’s one of the most beautiful experiences that we have had. We saw that he wanted to work hard and change his life, so we just gave him the opportunity and helped him to start his new life.”

Throughout northwest Central America – notably in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador – the spread of youth gangs has lead to an increase in youth violence. According to The New York Times, Guatemala has about 6,000 murders a year – a rate higher than that during some years of the country’s 36-year armed conflict – attributed to gangs. Though estimates vary, some experts say that there are as many as 60,000 gang members across the three countries where the USAID/YCP operates. High crime rates and threats of extortion have also led to negative repercussions on the social fabric and economies of these countries. In this climate, former gang members who seek jobs – and who are recognizable by their tattoos – are considered unemployable.

“We saw a great opportunity to help and to be involved with our community,” Letona said. “We are a national company that wants to give back to our country. When we met Harold Sibaja, we saw a nice opportunity to get involved and give back to the community.”

Letona and his team provided solutions to some of the challenges former gang members confront, such as a lack of funds to pay for transportation to and from work. “So, we started to give them money at the beginning of their employment with us,” Letona said. “But we didn’t just hand them the $80 dollars or so, that pays for transportation and lunch, we added an extra hour to their work day.”

When they first arrived at Pepsi, the 10 former gang members were given jobs cleaning and sweeping because of their lack of education and work experience. But Hernandez asked for a more challenging job.

“We said ‘okay, we will let you try one of the machines that stacks boxes,’” Letona said. “He started to learn how to work this machine after work and, now, he drives it. His position is very important at that company level, an employee is recognized by other workers when he drives this machine.” According to Letona, Hernandez has done so well that Pepsi is considering helping him to go back to school next year.

“This is one of the most important initiatives for our company, this is a nice experience, because we Guatemalans have to solve this gang problem,” Letona said. “If they want to get out of gangs, we have to give them the opportunity to change, the opportunity to work. We are trying to get other Guatemalan companies involved in USAID/YCP’s work through the Guatemala Human Resources Association, because we think the initiative is so important.”

Pepsi’s partnership with USAID/YCP goes beyond employing former gang members. Pepsi has also encouraged the other youth on their staff to continue their studies with financial assistance and has provided uniforms and other assistance for YCP’s participants to organize a soccer team.

“Pepsi is a committed partner,” Sibaja said. “They see the Desafio Program as their own. They advocate with other businesses to hire former gang members and to contribute to the reduction of youth violence. They put together their own video about the Program and are supporting our Desafio programs in Honduras and El Salvador. Pepsi Centroamerica is an example of business social responsibility.”

Speaking of the USAID/YCP youths on his staff, Letona says, “Sometimes they are nervous, they don’t look you in the face, you look in their eyes and see they are confused. They are shy at the start and that is the most difficult, you have to work on their self esteem and that’s the reason why I tell my staff to talk with them, to get involved with them…also you can’t help all of the problems but most of them you can.”

YCP is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development and is a follow-on to the Creative managed and implemented Youth Alliance Program, which made international headlines when it produced a reality TV series called Desafio 10 Paz para los EX ™ also known as Challenge 10 Peace for the EX ™ . The five-part series (viewable at www.challenge10.com) chronicled the competition between two groups of five former rival gang members who established legitimate businesses with the help of private-sector mentors. It was followed by Desafio 100 which helped tens of young female and male former gang members receive skills training and job opportunities.

— Alexandra Pratt with assistance from Harold Sibaja.

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EL SALVADOR: A Second ‘For My Neighborhood’ Youth Outreach Center Opens its Doors

October 23, 2008

3 min read

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EL SALVADOR:

A Second ‘For My Neighborhood’ Youth Outreach Center Opens its Doors

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SAN SALVADOR – Oct. 23, 2008 – The Regional Youth Alliance USAID-SICA opened its second youth Outreach Center in El Salvador, this one in Lourdes where it provides youth a chance to learn new skills away from the influences of gangs.

The Lourdes Outreach Center will offer computer training, maintenance and repair courses, tailoring and baking, among other activities. The Center will also offer workshops that raise awareness of the dangers of drug use and engage community volunteers as teachers.

“Right after cutting the ribbon, it was great to see all those kids go to the computers and, in many cases, use them for the first time,” said Salvador Stadthagen, Creative’s Director of the Regional Youth Alliance USAID- SICA program.

A pioneering program, the Regional Youth Alliance provides alternatives for at-risk youth who are vulnerable to the lure of gangs in their poor neighborhoods. The Alliance is a collaboration among the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Central American Integration System (SICA) and Creative Associates International, Inc. that launched earlier this year. This timely project is a direct response to the public security, investment and development challenges confronting Central America because of youth gangs. Gang activity has contributed to driving crime rates in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador – where the Alliance is active – to among the highest in the region.

The project, known in Spanish as Alianza Joven Regional, offers a unique approach to the social challenges posed by disaffected youth in the region. Building on Creative’s successful Guatemala Youth Alliance Program, also funded by USAID, the program serves to help reconcile country-specific approaches and the lack of coherent legislation in Central America to lead to the development of regional solutions to address gang violence.

The Lourdes “For My Neighborhood” Outreach Center is the second to be opened in El Salvador after the Father Rafael Palacios Educational and Vocational Center (CFO) in Mejicanos, and brings to 10 the number of centers opened in the region; eight of the centers are in Guatemala. At least three more centers are expected to open in El Salvador within the next year; each center will serve about 300 young people, ages 9 to 21.

“We would like to think that keeping these young people away from entering gangs would be just a click away, but it is more complex than that, said Stadthagen. “But by showing them a wider world, paying them a little attention, helping the kids with homework so they stay in school, which is part of what an Outreach Center does, will certainly go a long way.”

The Lourdes Outreach Center is also supported by Iglesia del Camino Lourdes, a neighborhood church established by Pastor Jaime Guatemala, at the age of 21, 10 years ago. Today, Pastor Guatemala’s congregation has grown to 400 members.

Pastor Guatemala has big ambitions for Lourdes, Stadthagen said. “He wants to see less violence and does not want to see Lourdes go the way Soyapango, a local community with extremely high violence, is going.”

Located just 10 miles west of San Salvador in the Municipality of Colon, Lourdes is densely populated with 2,500 people per square mile and a total population just under 200,000. It’s known to be among the most violent areas in the country with 130 communities and more than 100 active gangs.

In addition to Stadthagen and Pastor Guatemala, the inauguration was attended by USAID Democracy and Governance Officer, Jennifer Link, SICA legal counsel, Cesar Salazar, and El Salvador government officials.

“We will dedicate all our energy, all our care, so we turn this Center into a true space of hope for the youth of Lourdes,” said Pastor Guatemala. “This brings hope to Lourdes, we can now dream of a new Lourdes. This Center will be all what the community wants it to be, specially the volunteers who will be the ones that truly run this Center.”

To read more about the launch of the Lourdes Outreach Center in Spanish, click here.

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LATIN AMERICA: Creative Launches New Employment Program for Ex-Gang Members in Honduras and Convenes Juvenile Justice Workshops

August 27, 2008

3 min read

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LATIN AMERICA:

Creative Launches New Employment Program for Ex-Gang Members in Honduras and Convenes Juvenile Justice Workshops

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One hundred former gang members in Honduras will be paired with employers and mentors in the latest implementation of Desafio 100, or Challenge 100, a signature approach of Creative Associates International’s efforts in Latin America that help youth acquire the job skills they need to assimilate into society and advance in life.

Desafio 100 is being implemented in selected neighborhoods where cycles of poverty make youth vulnerable to gang recruitment. Creative’s Alianza Joven Regional (AJR), in partnership with Paz y Convivencia Ciudadana (P&C), plans to open four outreach centers for vulnerable communities to reinsert youth into civic life.

Developed by Creative, the outreach center model provides a safe haven for youths to learn basic vocational skills and use their free time in positive ways, such as computer literacy. For long-term sustainability, P&C will finance 50 percent of the cost of the outreach centers so that operations can continue after AJR ends.

Creative developed Desafio 100 for a predecessor USAID-funded project in Guatemala, Programa Alianza Joven. AJR’s implementation of this approach will also be replicated in El Salvador and further diffused in Guatemala. Now that the first Desafio 100 participants in Guatemala have been successfully reintegrated, another group of former gang members will begin the program in that country.

A former Guatemalan employer along with a former gang member who received an opportunity under AJR, have been invited by UNESCO to present on their experiences at an international seminar to be held in Bahrain.

In its first few months of implementation, AJR has also held three juvenile justice workshops in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Workshop participants discussed the current situation of juvenile justice in their respective countries, as well as identified problems, weaknesses and challenges. All three workshops revealed similar challenges, including: the lack of integrated approaches toward improving juvenile justice, the challenges of coordination and collaboration between juvenile justice sector operators and institutions, and the lack of investment in the development of policies and programs for youth.

AJR is a direct response to the public security, investment and development challenges caused by gangs in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The project is implemented by Creative Associates International, Inc. with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

“The impressive turnout at the workshops, whose participants included Supreme Court Magistrates, high government officials, juvenile judges and recognized civil society experts and leaders, signals the deep need in the three countries to discuss in-depth the situation of juvenile justice in the region,” said Salvador Stadthagen, AJR’s Project Director. “The fact that the results of this workshop process will eventually be brought to the platform of the Central American Integration System (SICA), through the organization of a Regional Forum sponsored by the major regional integration institutions, will be a major contribution to helping form consensus toward a legal framework for juvenile justice in Central America.”

In El Salvador, the participants agreed that the Juvenile Criminal Law is one of the best in the region but its application is uneven. After an extensive discussion, the group identified the central problem of juvenile justice in El Salvador as, “the incoherence between formal recognition and effectiveness in fulfilling youth and children’s rights.”

Similarly, in Guatemala, participants discussed what should be the country’s priorities regarding juvenile justice and agreed that even if there was an adequate legal framework, still lacking are prevention policies, targeted programs and investment.

In Honduras, the conversation focused on the lack of adequate rehabilitation programs for youth who run afoul of the law. A major problem for Honduras is the current over-capacity of youth correction centers. As in Guatemala, participants agreed that even if there is an existing legal framework, its application of the law remains at issue. They also point to the lack of consistent public policies on youth issues, the lack of investment and the lack of coordination among juvenile justice sector institutions including prosecutors, public defenders, judges, police, and correction facilities officers as major challenges.

The three workshops will lead to an AJR analysis of the status of juvenile justice, leading to a more concrete vision of the specific needs and problems facing each country and the region. Over the long-term, AJR’s analyses of juvenile justice issues will enable governments and civil society to better address the issues of youth-and-justice in an effort to reduce the numbers of youths who join gangs.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Creative’s Harold Sibaja Interviewed by Voice of America TV on Efforts to Help Youth Vulnerable to Gangs

August 26, 2008

1 min read

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Creative’s Harold Sibaja Interviewed by Voice of America TV on Efforts to Help Youth Vulnerable to Gangs

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Regional Youth Alliance USAID-SICA

Creative’s Latin America Regional Representative Harold Sibaja contributes to a Voice of America talk show on gangs. He also speaks about Creative’s efforts with USAID in Central America that have helped provide former gang members with new opportunities through job training and internships to become responsible contributors to society.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

GUATEMALA: USAID Awards Youth Challenge Alliance

June 4, 2008

4 min read

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GUATEMALA:

USAID Awards Youth Challenge Alliance

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In recognition of Creative Associates’ pioneering success in helping former gang members turn their lives around through mentoring and job opportunities, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded Creative the Youth Challenge Alliance Program in Guatemala.

The award builds on Creative’s successes under a longtime predecessor project known as the Youth Alliance Program, which developed unique education and employment programs targeting the country’s vulnerable youth and former gang members through initiatives including Challenge 10—Peace for the EX™, Challenge 100—Peace for Guatemala and seven “For My Neighborhood” Outreach Centers.

“Integrating and improving the ability of vulnerable youths to access the labor market and succeed, is not only critical to their well being and that of their families, it is equally important to the national security of the region and the United States,” said M. Charito Kruvant, President and CEO of Creative Associates International. “We have found that when these youth are given a chance to succeed, they do, and become responsible contributors to civil society and the economy.”

Creative will continue to provide workforce development opportunities to reduce the risk of youths entering or taking part in gang activity. To that end, Creative will work to leverage private sector, faith-based organizations and government resources to provide adequate interventions for at-risk youths.

The Youth Challenge Program (YCP) will also provide employment, mentoring and training for 200 former gang members – both young men and women alike – by building on alliances developed with the private sector under the Youth Alliance Program which was implemented by Creative from 2004 until earlier this year.

“The YCP will build on the Youth Alliance Program’s impact which continues to benefit Guatemalan youth, who would otherwise have few alternatives to counteract the powerful influence of gangs,” said Harold Sibaja, Creative’s Latin America Regional Representative and Director of Youth Challenge Program. “Former gang members are now fully employed due to our efforts and many vulnerable youths are kept from the streets by frequenting our Outreach Centers. Creative, working with USAID, will continue to provide sustainable crime-prevention capacity through training, education and income generating activities.”

Under the 18-month $1 million cooperative agreement, Creative will engage its technical expertise in vocational training, youth education, alliance building among the private sector, public sector and faith-based organizations to improve the lives of vulnerable and at-risk-youths in Guatemala, a group that makes up 66 percent of Guatemala’s total population. Of those, many face challenges finishing elementary school. The number of those involved in gangs regionally is estimated by the U.N. to approximate 70,000 and of these, 14,000 are believed to be in Guatemala.

Given these demographic factors, the YCP’s attention to youths is timely and critical to the country’s future socio-economic development. With a focus on impoverished youths who live in neighborhoods with high unemployment and limited job training opportunities, it’s expected that the YCP will provide positive alternatives to street life and crime.

In addition to workforce development and the insertion of former gang members into society, the YCP’s other activities include establishing at least 10 new Outreach Centers to provide vocational, recreational and educational services to vulnerable youths. The program will also collaborate with the Government of Guatemala to develop and implement a youth focused crime-prevention strategy.

The YCP will also benefit from the activities of the Regional Youth Alliance USAID-SICA for Central America and Mexico, another Creative-implemented program. Known in Spanish as Alianza Joven Regional USAID-SICA (AJR), the program will provide local, national and regional stakeholders the necessary resources to use proven community-based gang prevention approaches and assess regional legal frameworks and practices for multi-country policy and legal reforms.

To ensure sustainability, the YCP will support the implementation of the newly formed Youth Alliance Association, known in Spanish as the Associacion Alianza Joven, (AAJ), by providing organizational development support aimed at making the Association a formal institution, capable of soliciting and serving as a legal recipient of funding and in-kind support from donors including the USAID, the Government of Guatemala, faith-based organizations and the private sector.

On a regional level, YCP activities are designed to help reduce the pool of potential candidates of youth crime and violence in Guatemala, and help stem the tide of illegal youth migration to the United States. The YCP will also continue to build on the alliance developed under the Youth Alliance Program with the Comite Coordinador de Asociaciones Agricolas, Comerciales, Industrias y Financieras (CACIF), a prominent umbrella organization for nine branches of private business.

Working with Creative, CACIF will provide job training and placement to former gang members, both young men and women, as it did under a previous job training program, Challenge 100 – Peace for Guatemala. That program paired former gang members with business executives for mentoring, training and jobs. Through its alliance with CACIF, Creative raised the business community’s awareness of the limited opportunities available to these young people and the tremendous potential they have to contribute to society and the economy when provided with the proper resources.

For more information, please contact Lynn Sheldon, Creative Project Manager for the Youth Challenge Alliance Program, at [email protected].[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

USAID Youth Challenge Alliance Program: Providing Opportunities to Guatemala’s Vulnerable Youths

May 13, 2008

Regional Youth Alliance USAID-SICA is Inaugurated in San Salvador

April 11, 2008

2 min read

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Regional Youth Alliance USAID-SICA is Inaugurated in San Salvador

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The Regional Youth Alliance USAID-SICA program, an initiative of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Central American Integration System (SICA), was officially inaugurated this spring in San Salvador. The project is implemented by Creative Associates International.

The inauguration gathered officials from the Government of El Salvador, U.S. Embassy in San Salvador and others from international organizations, churches, the private sector and civil society. Special guests included Christy McCampbell, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and Constance L. Rice, Co-Director of the Advancement Project Los Angeles.

The program, known in Spanish as Alianza Joven Regional USAID-SICA, is a direct response to the public security, investment and development challenges caused by youth gangs throughout Central America. Over the 33-month project, Creative along with its partners, will implement innovative community-based crime prevention programming throughout the region, gather and organize knowledge, including legislation and best practices with the aim of achieving regional coherence. It will also work with and strengthen the role of the Sistema de Integracion Centroamericana (SICA) in coordinating regional approaches to reducing youth crime in Central America. SICA is the organization of Central American countries which leads the region’s integration efforts. Creative will also award sub-grants to regional organizations in 45 targeted communities working with gangs and gang prevention. The sub-grant program will reach about 3,000 at-risk youths; other sub-grants will raise awareness of the dangers of gang life and sensitize the public to becoming more engaged in prevention and reintegration efforts.

For more information, contact Project Director Salvador Stadthagen at [email protected].[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

USAID Awards Creative the Regional Youth Alliance for Central America and Mexico

February 29, 2008

4 min read

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USAID Awards Creative the Regional Youth Alliance for Central America and Mexico

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The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded Creative Associates International, Inc. the Regional Youth Alliance USAID-SICA project, in recognition of the firm’s successful innovative and participatory programs to rehabilitate and reintegrate ex-gang members into society and prevent the participation of youth in gangs.

This timely project is a direct response to the public security, investment and development challenges caused by youth gangs throughout Central America. Gang activity has contributed to driving crime rates in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador to among the highest in the region.

“We are privileged and honored to have been selected to carry out the Regional Youth Alliance USAID-SICA,” said M. Charito Kruvant, President and CEO of Creative Associates International, Inc., a 30-year-old company with programs in 18 countries. “Creative has a long-standing commitment to communities and youth in Central America and beyond. This project provides young people, communities and institutions with the opportunities to create a regional future built on peace, security and prosperity.”

The Regional Youth Alliance USAID-SICA, known in Spanish as Alianza Joven Regional USAID-SICA, will also employ Creative’s long and successful history of establishing community based public-private alliances to leverage support, both in-kind and financial, for crime and violence prevention activities for youth.

“This 33-month project will give us the opportunity to look at crime-prevention issues with a regional perspective,” said Pablo Maldonado, Creative’s Senior Vice President of Operations. “We’ll be able to diffuse innovative community-based crime prevention programming throughout the region, gather and organize knowledge, including legislation and best practices, with the aim of achieving regional coherence. And lastly, we’ll be able to work with and strengthen the role of the Sistema de Integración Centroamericana (SICA) in coordinating regional approaches to reducing youth crime in Central America.” SICA is the organization of Central American Countries which leads the region’s integration efforts.

In addition to promoting community-based activities, Creative will award sub-grants to regional organizations in 45 targeted communities working with gangs and gang prevention. The sub-grant program will reach approximately 300 community leaders and serve 3,000 at-risk youths. Sub-grants directed to media initiatives will seek to raise awareness of the dangers of gang life and sensitize the public to becoming more engaged in prevention and reintegration initiatives. The project will be led by Salvador Stadthagen, a longtime development expert, who has served as Nicaragua’s ambassador to the United States and Canada, and in many other diplomatic positions.

Harold Sibaja, Creative’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, said the project builds on Creative’s successful Youth Alliance Program, also funded by USAID, and will serve as a catalyst to help reconcile country-specific approaches and the lack of uniformity of legislation in Central America to make way for the development of regional solutions to address youth violence.

“Our experience in Guatemala, our successes and lessons learned give Creative the understanding of the issue, the recognition from key stakeholders, and the foundations to address the issue of youth violence at a regional level,” Sibaja said.

The project will also assess regional legal frameworks and practices to promote multi-country policy and reform to improve the treatment and rehabilitation of youth in order to develop a cohesive regional response to the gang problem.

Led by Creative, the Regional Youth Alliance’s key partners will consist of USAID, the Central American Integration System (SICA), the Commercial Industrial and Financial Associations in Guatemala (CACIF), the El Salvador National Association of Private Enterprise (ANEP), the National Business Council of Honduras (COHEP), Rotary Clubs, local churches and vocational training institutions, among other organizations.

Under the Youth Alliance Program, known in Spanish as Programa Alianza Joven, Creative developed innovative strategies in Guatemala to address the social and economic conditions that drive youths to join gangs and helped ex-gang members turn their lives around to become responsible contributors to society through mentoring, internships and other job training.

Creative opened youth centers to provide at-risk youths with a safe and constructive environment to learn new skills and not fall prey to gang influences.

Along with prevention, Creative developed unique job training, business development and mentoring programs for former gang members to enable their economic viability and involvement as responsible contributors to mainstream society. It is anticipated that 450 rehabilitated gang members will obtain permanent employment through the Regional Youth Alliance’s sub-grant program. The job placement component is based on Creative’s Challenge 100 program in Guatemala which provided former gang members – young women and men alike – 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. It gathered 10 former rival gang members who had to share the same home. Divided into two teams of five, the teams competed to establish legitimate businesses with the help of private-sector mentors. Challenge 10—Peace for the EX®, known as Desafio 10—Paz para los EX® in Spanish, was broadcast on Guatemala television. To view the series, visit www.challenge10.com.

For more information about the project, please contact Technical Monitor Lynn Sheldon at [email protected].[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]