Youth Citizen Security Platform - Mexico and Central America

Mexico and Central America's Northern Triangle, which covers El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, are facing a deep public security crisis. Homicide rates are among the highest globally. This project will improve capacity to address the problem through research, proposals, and public policies on youth citizen security and youth violence prevention. Violence in Mexico and the Northern Triangle Honduras has a rate of 90.4 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, and El Salvador and Guatemala have 41.2 and 39.9 respectively, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's 2013 report. Young people face deep social inequalities, which puts them at risk of violence and organized crime. The lack of economic opportunities and the extreme high unemployment rates deeply affect young people, particularly youth-at-risk. Young people are both perpetrators and victims. In part, the problem lies in the lack of sound violence reduction strategies targeted at youth. Skills and knowledge to address the violence This project will create a platform that will address these challenges by building capacity among civil servants, civil society leaders, and youth organization leaders. It will bring together experts to gather knowledge, promising practices, intervention models, methodologies, and public policies that will strengthen youth citizen security and promote the economic inclusion of at-risk youth in Mexico and Central America. The project team will build a research agenda on public policy influence together with key stakeholders. They will also establish a virtual platform to train actors engaged with youth citizen security and youth violence prevention.