USAID Extends Alliances with Municipalities in Nuevo Leon and Chihuahua until 2020

USAID and municipal governments of Monterrey and Guadalupe in Nuevo Leon, and Ciudad Juarez in Chihuahua, renewed their commitment to strengthen local violence prevention systems. New Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between USAID and the municipal governments in March 2019. These MoUs represent joint efforts to support violence and crime prevention. The initial MoUs were signed in 2017 and enabled USAID to provide specialized technical assistance to strengthen institutional capacity within municipalities. The MoUs facilitated the development and implementation of public prevention policies. In Monterrey, the municipal government's prevention capacity was strengthened by 109.09% after the second application of the Government Performance Index (GOPI) made by USAID in February 2018. In Guadalupe, the 2017 MoU led to the establishment of a multisectoral group of local actors, which developed a violence prevention work agenda. USAID also supported the organization Pro-Superación Familiar Neoleonesa A.C. in implementing the "Jóvenes Transformando Jóvenes" program, which focused on identifying underlying triggers to gender and youth violence. In Ciudad Juarez, USAID provided support to organizations La Tenda di Cristo, Centro de Asesoría y Promoción Juvenil, and Fundación Comunitaria de la Frontera Norte A.C., with the intention of strengthening their intervention models. The recent MoUs ensure collaboration between USAID and municipalities through 2020 and will continue to develop a sustainable relationship among the government, civil society, academia, and the private sector. The work carried out jointly by USAID and the municipalities is essential to promoting public safety policies and strengthening the Local Prevention System. The goal is to address insecurity and provide protection to citizens with more efficient and transparent processes.