“Youth as Leaders of a Culture of Peace” by CLAI
Latin American youth have been particularly affected by a raise in violence levels. Statistics show that young people are often both the victims and the offenders. Murders of young people are rising simultaneously with their stigmatization and youth in the churches are not alien to this phenomenon. Through this project CLAI intended to open the way for reflection and for the strengthening of peaceful conflicts solution strategies among the youth.
In order to make this happen, CLAI planned several regional workshops, leaning on the expertise of “Claves”, an Uruguayan Foundation specialized in research and education. One of these workshops took place in El Salvador (December 3-6 2009) and was attended by 40 youth from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and El Salvador. The second workshop in Chile was attended by 15 youth (4-6 December 2009) from Santiago de Chile and Concepción. A third workshop was organized in Colombia, even if this was not planned when the project was submitted. As a result of the the pledge of the Colombian Youth Pastoral, CLAI decided to make possible a workshop for 20 youth leaders in this country.
Given the differences between the regions, the workshops had specific characteristics:
Workshop in Chile |
Workshop in Central America |
Workshop in Colombia |
- 15 national participants |
- 40 participants from 6 countries in the region |
-20 national participants |
Context: Significant social gaps and conflicts between rich and poor population. Frustration and lack of justice after the long dictatorship of Pinochet’s government. |
Context: The 6 countries experience different levels of violence, but they share the challenge of youth migration, poverty, youth gangs (“Maras”) and serious environmental problems. |
Context: Long armed conflict between the army, the guerrillas and the para-military forces. Over 2 millions of internal displaced people and the side effects of the drugs business on youth gangs. |
The workshop focused on themes such as Human Rights, conflict and reconciliation, gender based violence and the launch of the campaign “A Treaty for a Good Treatment” Some of the inputs from the participants after the training outlined the value of a methodology helping them to identify conflicts as opportunities for growing and for uniting efforts. The public dimension of these workshops was also evaluated positively. After each workshop the participants led actions on the streets, with the motto “A Treaty for a Good Treatment”, during which nearly 400 people where exposed to messages related to a non-violent approach in the family and the community.
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“Maras” are youth gangs created in El Salvador since the end of the civil war in the 80’s. They account for much of the criminality in the region and became the main socializing option for thousands of marginalized teenagers and young people. |
CLAI has found support for the continuation of this initiative from FAP (Fondation pour l’Aide au Protestantisme Réformé) and UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund). They plan follow up activities in 5 Central American and in 2 Caribbean countries. Three churches in the region have also expressed their commitment to support the continuation of the project.