From Citizen Security to Food Security: A cross-sector discussion of violence in Central America

Kids on Swing

Event Information

The high prevalence of violence in Central America is a major human and institutional development challenge that the Feed the Future project, Innovation for Agricultural Training and Education (InnovATE), has identified as affecting agriculture development. Specifically, the Northern Triangle countries – El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras – are considered three of the most dangerous countries in the world, as evidenced by intentional homicide rates. The level of violence clearly affects development in many areas, particularly in terms of agriculture and youth’s participation in agricultural education.

InnovATE began looking at this issue to investigate why youth, and young men in particular, were dropping out of the agricultural education system at alarming rates in Central America. In addition to young males, high violence rates affect all youth and women, as well. It became clear that violence in Central America is a pervasive, complex issue that requires a pervasive, complex response from across sectors working to end hunger and poverty. It cuts across development sectors—agriculture, education, youth development, workforce development, economic development, health and nutrition, and democracy and governance -- to make cross-sector collaboration of paramount importance to reaching food security goals in the Northern Triangle.

As the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime stated, “If development is the process of building societies that work, crime acts as a kind of ‘anti-development’, destroying the trust relations on which society is based.”

On June 20 2016, we brought together practitioners working in different sectors in Central America to discuss how violence disrupts development and what to do about it. Talking points included:

  • Tips and tools for rural and urban development practitioners to best operate in an environment of “anti-development” to achieve cross-cutting food security progression.
  • How violence disrupts development such as food security.
  • What agricultural projects can learn from youth development projects working in contexts of violence and vice-versa.
  • What works well in a community that is affected by violence daily.
  • What is important to know about working with victims of violence.
  • Keeping staff safe in contexts of violence in development projects.

Speakers

Rebecca J.

InnovATE

Rebecca J. Williams specializes in tropical conservation and development with a focus in gender and development. From 2009-2011, she served as a volunteer in the United States Peace Corps in Honduras in the Water and Sanitation Program. She also researches youth violence and masculinities in Central America. She is a contributor to the Feed the Future project, Innovation for Agricultural Training and Education (InnovATE) funded by USAID. She is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Florida in the School of Natural Resources and Environment. Her dissertation research was conducted in Honduras on women’s time poverty.

Ken Baker

Glasswing

Ken Baker is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Glasswing. At Glasswing, Ken brings public sector knowledge, having worked abroad with the State Department in over ten countries and having served two terms as City Councilman in Norwalk, CT. In addition, Ken has over 12 years of experience in the private sector, having previously served as Vice President of Corporate Relations at AmeriCares, a large international relief organization. Ken has a B.S. in International Business from Northeastern University and an M.A. in International Affairs from American University.

Fernando Rubio

Fernando Rubio

Juárez & Associates

Mr. Rubio has extensive experience in international development, having engaged in such professional activities as educational measurements (standards and testing), monitoring and evaluation, basic education, higher education partnerships, teacher development, assessment of institutional performance, planning and assessment of workforce development, distance learning, educational equity and gender, training and supervision of field research teams, EMIS database design and social marketing. He is currently Project Director for the “Guatemala Lifelong Learning Project” implemented by Juárez & Associates. Mr. Rubio received his MA in Psychology from the New York School of Social Research and a BA in Psychology from the Universidad de Panamá. He also teaches courses in Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation at Del Valle University in Guatemala.

Karen Towers

USAID/Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean

Karen Towers is the Education Team Leader in the Office of Regional Sustainability in the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC/RSD). She specializes in education programming for at-risk youth and workforce development programs in crisis and conflict environments. Ms. Towers has over 15 years of experience in program design, management, and evaluation of youth and education programs in Latin America and Africa. She has an M.A. in International Relations with a focus in education from Johns Hopkins University SAIS, and a B.A. in Economics and International Business from the University of Scranton.

Isabel Aguilar

Catholic Relief Services

Isabel Aguilar Umaña serves as Regional Technical Advisor in Youth Related Violence Prevention for Catholic Relief Services, Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean. Over the last decade, she has specialized in violence prevention, particularly youth-related violence. She has authored several books, articles and essays that highlight her areas of expertise, and she holds a B.S. in Spanish Literature and a M.A. in Human Rights.

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