As part of our project in Honduras to empower change agents against trafficking and exploitation of people, especially women and girls, the IBCR launched a call for projects last November to finance and support local initiatives to combat the phenomenon. Two projects were selected and will start their activities this month, with the technical and financial support of the Bureau.
Nearly ten projects had submitted a proposal during our call for projects in 2020. Two of them were selected, following the evaluation and recommendations given by the selection committee.
These two 6-month projects will receive both technical (support, monitoring, training) and financial support (each project receives USD 25,000 or CAD 31,700). This is an innovative way of working within the framework of our projects which allows us to get closer to the affected population by acting through civil society organisations, while offering greater autonomy and responsibility to the actors involved.
The selected organisations:
UDIMUF (Unit for the integral development of women and the family)
Feminist organisation that contributes to the improvement of the quality of life of women; recognising, developing and strengthening their capacities, offering them spaces for political participation, citizenship, promotion, dissemination and advocacy to guarantee the right to a life free of gender-based violence.
Project title: Building pathways for girls, young women, adolescent girls and women who are free from trafficking, discrimination and violence.
CEM-H (Centre d’études féminines du Honduras)
Feminist organization that promotes and defends women’s human rights for a dignified life, contributing to the emancipatory political project of the women’s movement and the feminist movement, through the generation of individual and collective transformation processes in women’s lives, both in the public and private spheres. The organisation articulates efforts with the social movement to eradicate patriarchal, capitalist and racist practices and thinking that determine the oppression, historical discrimination, violence and impoverishment of women.
Project title: Contributing to the prevention of trafficking in young women and girls at community level
The objectives of the two projects are quite similar and focus on developing prevention and training activities against human trafficking in two particularly affected regions of the country: the north and the central zone (where the capital, Tegucigalpa, is located). The focus will be on strengthening the links between these organisations and the CICESCT (the governmental body fighting human trafficking in Honduras and a partner in the IBCR project in Honduras) in order to empower the groups that are closest to the population while guaranteeing them sustainable and local support.
In the coming months, the IBCR will monitor the projects’ activities. In addition, our volunteer cooperation project PRIDE will support one of the projects with the deployment of a volunteer in operational management.
Together, these projects are expected to have an impact on approximately 4,000 people (700 directly through prevention and training activities) after 6 months.
Read more: Our 3-year project in Honduras to fight against human and child trafficking