Honduras
Violence, inequality, and impunity – the tragic state of Honduras.
Challenges
Honduras is currently in contention for being the most violent country in the world. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime “Global Study on Homicide” report, Honduras ranked as the country with the most murders per capita in the world in 2013. Horizons joins the plethora of international development and human rights organizations denouncing the violence, inequality, and impunity occurring in Honduras.
Moreover, Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Americas. It suffers from droughts in the summer, and flood and hurricanes in during the rainy seasons. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch killed 5,600 people and caused $2 billion in damage. This level of destruction is devastating to the poor who live off the land and rely on healthy crops to feed their families.
What We Do
We have a long track record of work in Honduras that dates back to 1973 when Horizons was first founded. Our initial focus was on mobilizing humanitarian assistance in the wake of the devastating Hurricane Fifi. Our community development work confronts the root causes of poverty and injustice to effect long-term change in Honduras. Horizons and its partners in the Honduras have been:
Defending migrant and rural residents rights,
Promoting sustainable agriculture and microcredits for small-scale farmers,
Supporting cultural preservation of the Indigenous peoples,
Empowering women and combatting gender-based violence.