Desk Review Report: Proyecto Oportunidades Sociales

The report aims to document the current situation, advances, and trends in violence and social risk in Honduras, as well as identify opportunities for young people in the country. The report is part of the Proyecto Participación Ciudadana y Oportunidades Sociales, which is implemented by Counterpart International (CPI) in Honduras as part of the Programa Impactos. The project is aligned with the CARSI strategy promoted by the USAID, which aims to develop integrated programs and sustained actions to promote youth participation in violence prevention and policy influence in the Central American region. The report highlights the importance of community development and social stability programs, which are led by the community and involve diverse actors such as schools, local governments, private sector, health centers, religious institutions, and the police. The project's emphasis is on developing prevention actions that act as a social catalyst, demonstrating the importance of a preventive approach and the correlation between community development and the improvement of public services as a way to increase community security and reduce crime and violence. The desk review was conducted by the project's technical team using secondary information sources and first-hand consultations with key informants identified according to the project's proposal. The information collection was guided to identify the most appropriate intervention strategies for the sociocultural context of the target municipalities and communities, select and sequence the most appropriate interventions, and identify relevant learning in the work done by Civil Society Organizations (OSC) on social actors involved in violence prevention focused on youth. The report highlights the need for updated information to support decision-making, which is a weakness felt in Honduras in various sectors of national development. Topics related to youth, violence, and social risk are not an exception. The main weaknesses identified include the under-registration of information in different sectors to support decision-making, with more than 70% of OSCs stating that they do not have updated records. The report provides a synthesis of the main ideas in charts and graphs for better understanding and use, citing bibliographic and consultation sources that support the analyses and conclusions contained in the document. The report aims to contribute to establishing the initial platform of information and reference that will allow the project to initiate interventions in each level of operation, advancing towards the strengthening of OSCs as drivers of the transformation of young people into social actors with greater access and control over decisions that affect them.