For many Hondurans, life is hard. Around 65 per cent of the country’s population lives below the poverty line, unemployment is high in many areas, and crime is a serious and persistent problem. Gang violence, organized crime and the highest rate of homicide in the world makes Honduras a dangerous place to live, especially for children and youths.
Often, young people feel compelled to join gangs for protection or companionship, or out of fear. Some children as young as 11 are recruited into gangs and are forced to perform criminal activities for older members. Social exclusion and a lack of opportunities contribute to the feelings of hopelessness that many children and youths experience, so intervention is crucial if the generational cycle of poverty and gang crime is to be broken.
Criminal gangs cause a variety of complex problems. Many teachers have reported that gangs have created problems in their schools. Bullying and other kinds of threatening behaviour create a culture of fear among students, sometimes causing youths to drop out of school, which has negative impacts on their future opportunities and on the Honduran population at large.
ChildFund has worked in Honduras since 1982, and one of our primary goals is to give youths the tools to create positive change in their lives and in their communities. We believe that a key strategy of reducing poverty in Honduras is ensuring that youths have access to vocational training and educational opportunities.
To date, ChildFund has enrolled 4,843 Honduran youths in training and professional development programs. In addition, 803 youths have received training in areas such as auto repair, electrical engineering, clothing alteration and carpentry, providing them with the skills they need to find work and support themselves as independent adults.
Along with these programs, we have also helped work with more than 900 youths in community engagement. These young people will champion children’s rights and identify areas where change can be made, bringing hope to their communities and offering them the chance to make a lasting difference.
ChildFund Ethiopia yesterday handed over a youth friendly Reproductive Health Centre to Sodo Buee Woreda Health Office. The centre is the first in its kind in the area and constructed with the intention of changing the current practice of providing reproductive health (RH) and HIV services for young people at the Buee Health Centre where the youth share the same facilities with adults. The new youth friendly health centre was established based on the need for a youth wellbeing and multi-purpose centre to reduce the stigma youth feel at the original health centre.
The building has various sections such as health services, HIV and AIDS counselling and testing (HCT), recreation, education as well as a standard latrine for both male and female. Privacy and youth friendly spaces were primary considerations in the design of the building.
The centre was constructed with a total of 1.5 million Ethiopian Birr and is also furnished and equipped with different medical supplies and equipment valued at 550,000 Birr. The fund was secured from the Government of Australia through ChildFund Australia.
Mr. Charles Danzoll, the National Director of ChildFund Ethiopia, said the centre will promote the behavioural change of the youth through increased awareness on RH and HIV. He added that the very importance of the centre is to create access for youth to quality RH and HCT services. He expressed the commitment of ChildFund to the continual support of the deprived, excluded and vulnerable children and the community at large.
Ato Mekonnen Shanko, representative from Sodo Buee Woreda Health Office said that ChildFund is known for its long service in the area and ChildFund`s local partners have close relationships with the Health Bureau.
Program Director of ChildFund Ethiopia, Ato Getachew Tesfaye, added that ChildFund has been supporting the Sodo Buee community through various development programs for the past 16 years. ChildFund supports disadvantaged children and the community at large both through sponsorship and grant funding which helps to improve the lives and livelihoods of the community. It works through its local partner, Sodo Buee Child and Family Development Association and in close collaboration with the Ethiopian Government.
