The United States, through USAID, today announced more than $3 million towards investigative journalism and anti-corruption initiatives across Central America, in support of the U.S. Government Voices Initiative, a part of the Biden-Harris Administration's Root Causes Strategy. Voices is focused on protecting, defending, and promoting civic space in Central America and bringing like-minded actors together to work on this critical issue.
The initiative, announced today at the 2023 Central America Donors Forum by USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean Mileydi Guilarte, will strengthen objective investigative reporting skills of independent media in Central America to inform the public on corruption, while promoting government transparency, accountability, and respect for human rights. It will also support greater collaboration among independent media outlets and journalists from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua in their investigative work and expand access to services for journalists to manage their physical, digital, and psychosocial safety while working in high-risk environments.
This project, under USAID’s Anti-Corruption Policy, also furthers implementation of the Biden-Harris Administration's U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption by identifying, developing, and expanding locally-led cross-border networks, and complements broader Agency efforts, such as the new call for innovations “Doing Business with Integrity”, announced by USAID Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman.