Honduras

HONDURAS, Tegucigalpa : Fans of the Motagua football club, a group notoriously infiltrated by the "maras" (juvenile gangs), head for the stadium in Tegucigalpa, on February 10, 2013.

AFP PHOTO/Orlando SIERRA

Supporting civil society engagement and community revitalization to reduce violence.

Background

In recent years, Central America has become the most violent region in the world outside of war zones. Honduras currently has the world’s highest murder rate and is a prime transit point for the smuggling of arms, drugs, and people. In recent months, Honduras’ record-setting violence has attracted a concentration of U.S. efforts to attempt to stem the tide.  This rising violence, along with a growing sense of powerlessness among citizens, threatens to exacerbate pervasive social and economic conditions in the region, including immigration and drug-related crime in the United States.  Central America’s geographic and cultural proximity to the U.S. render its stability, security and success indispensable to U.S. interests.

The overarching objective of the OTI country program in Honduras is to support activities undertaken by citizen and civil society groups aimed at disrupting and decreasing the current high level of insecurity and violence.