Grants to Change Lives

JULY 2013 EDITION
IMPACTOS PROGRAM - HONDURAS
Grants to Change Lives
www.programaimpactos.org
JULY 2013 EDITION
IMPACTOS PROGRAM - HONDURAS
The continuous effort by the
Comisión de Acción Social
Menonita
(CASM)
in
the
stigmatized sectors of San Pedro Sula
has created a significant change in
the lives of many families. Thanks to
grants from the Impactos Program
the positive changes achieved by
CASM have reached more people,
especially young women that yearn
for a better future.
In the community of Jesús R.
González, these achievements are
evident. Maryorie Escobar (23)
participated in one of the jewelry
courses and not only did she learn
to the skills to make necklaces,
earrings, bracelets and other things,
but she also put this knowledge to
use and created a small business,
which generates enough income to
help improve her quality of life.
A member of the Community
Revitalization Committee (CRC),
María Pastora commented that “the
people are grateful. After so many
promises, they are seeing something
concrete and this motivates them to
become involved in the development
of their community by acquiring
skills thanks to these workshops”.
Thanks to the joint effort of
CASM and Impactos, the CRC
has developed training courses in
baking, crafts, beauty, and ribbon
embroidery, as well as workshops in
household finances, administration
and values.
Additionally, CASM and Impactos
have awarded scholarships to
community residents to complete
their high school education, thereby
strengthening the tools that will take
them away from violence and open
Maryorie also shared this knowledge new doors of development.
with other young women so that
they too could develop small In the most dangerous city in the
businesses. She doesn’t feel world, communities have begun to
threatened by other people learning organize themselves to overcome
this trade, instead she sees it as an the cancer of violence. With
opportunity for development, where perseverance, they demonstrate a
every person that she trains can join different reality, where community
her microenterprise in the future to work serves to prevent violence and
continue increasing its income and achieve a better quality of life.
improving the social opportunities
The Impactos Program seeks to
of her community.
improve citizen and community
Leslie Cartagena (30) is another security by strengthening the
success story. Since Impactos ability of communities and
arrived, she has seen how other local governments to prevent
communities yearn for what Jesús violence through creating social
R. González has accomplished. opportunities for youth and local
Every time she visits her neighbors empowerment.
she shares her experiences and feels
that she has become a trainer.
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JULY 2013 EDITION
IMPACTOS PROGRAM - HONDURAS
A Campaign against Corruption
in SOPTRAVI Is Begun
According to the “The Report
on Bribery Monitoring
in
Public
Institutions
preformed in Ten Public
Institutions in Tegucigalpa”,
which was presented last
May by the Fundación
Democracia sin Fronteras
(FDsF), of the 61 people who
acknowledge having received
a request for bribery, 28 point
to the Secretariat of Public
Works, Transportation and
Housing (SOPTRAVI) as the
institution where there are
more incidents y make this
type of requests.
Prior
to
the
public
presentation of the report,
FDsF invited the officials of
the monitored institutions
to learn about the results of the
investigation, among these were the
officials from the Transparency Unit
of SOPTRAVI. With the results
on the table, the technical team
which conducted the study spoke
with the leaders of that Unit and
agreed to work together to address
the problems of bribery in that
Secretariat.
As a result of that dialogue, FDsF
has developed several awareness
workshops about the importance of
the fight against corruption and the
commitments that the Government
of Honduras has taken through
initiatives such as the National
Anti-Corruption Plan and Open
Government Partnership. To date,
156 employees have participated in
SOPTRAVI workshops which have
been held in the cities of San Pedro
Sula, La Ceiba, and Choluteca,
throughout 2013.
Law, is a good example to show that
large resources are not required, but
instead a lot of political willpower to
eradicate this evil that threatens the
democratic stability of Honduras.
As a parallel, a campaign has been
launched that is aimed at users of the It is noteworthy that this article
services provided by the Secretariat has been provided to the Impactos
to denounce these types of crimes.
Program by FDsF as a voluntary
contribution to help spread the word
For the future, there are plans to about organized actions of CSOs by
develop more workshops with the means of this website.
employees of SOPTRAVI in order
to incorporate them in the fight The Impactos Program supports
against corruption and to provide Honduran civil society in order
information to users about the to improve the transparency of
importance of reporting and the public institutions, promotes the
existing legal mechanisms to do so. carrying out of social auditing on
government agencies, acts through
Despite the resistance generated by its partners in existing transparency
such initiatives, the Transparency institutions and attempts to integrate
Unit of SOPTRAVI, in fulfillment of accountability processes in sectoral
its functions and powers under the development programs.
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JULY 2013 EDITION
IMPACTOS PROGRAM - HONDURAS
La Ceiba Commits Itself to the Prevention of
Violence
In La Ceiba, the Centro de
Promoción en Salud y Asistencia
Familiar (CEPROSAF), thanks to
funds from the Impactos Program,
and supported by the Community
Revitalization Committee (CRC)
and the Youth Network, held
an Educational Workshop on
Prevention of Violence, which was
conducted by the Director of the
Monitor of Violence, Migdonia
Ayestas.
During the event, the situation of
violence that is affecting the city of
La Ceiba was discussed, which gave
the basis to begin with the analysis
of strategies to prevent it.
Likewise, the CRC and the Youth
Networks supported by the Impactos
Program took the opportunity
to publicize their Plans for the
Prevention of Community Violence,
which have been working for a year
to create development opportunities
for more than 12,000 beneficiaries.
in preventing violence and creating
opportunities because they are
neighborhood organizations who
are committed to community
development that are organized,
trained and working to revitalize
the community and improve their
living conditions.
Among the attendees, the highlights
were the presence of city officials,
representatives of the secretariats
of Planning, Education and Health,
diverse candidates for elected office,
justice and Comisionado Nacional
de los Derechos Humanos members,
among others.
It is worth remembering that the
Impactos Program seeks to improve
public and community safety by
means of strengthening the ability of
communities and local governments
to prevent violence through the
creation of social opportunities for
young people and through local
empowerment.
The CRCs play an important role
Revitalization Committees achieve Municipal
Recognition in Santa Rosa de Copán and Choluteca
Community Revitalization
Committees (CRC) are ground
level organizations committed to
the prevention of violence in their
territories. Through their efforts,
they have been recognized by local
authorities, acquiring the power
to receive the seal of municipal
validity for their own arrangements,
something that also converts them
into organizations who can also
potentially receive national and
international funds to create a
culture of peace.
and Ciudad Nueva, belonging to
the municipality of Choluteca, have
been officially recognized by their
Municipal Town Halls, becoming
recognized intermediaries for local
development.
two municipalities are extended to
the 28 remaining CRCs, resulting
in that the municipal agendas to
prevent violence and acquire a local
understanding and style to improve
the actions undertaken.
The contributions of the CRC
are based on the presentation of
options to the municipalities to
reduce the causes of violence in
their communities, where they are
the main actors of the solution.
The measurements of improvement
are derived from the community
assessments, the development
of prevention plans and from
the learning gained through
the implementation of projects
prioritized in these plans.
Within the CRC, there are highlights
like the active participation of
young people, who work to create
opportunities that enable solutions
to alcoholism, drug addiction,
family breakdown, stigma and
exclusion, among other problems.
With the support of the Impactos
Program, the CRCs of the
communities of El Chorrerón, Las
Juntas, Mano a Mano and Elder
Romero, located in the municipality
of Santa Rosa de Copán, and
the CRCs of the communities of Currently, we are working so that
Sagrado Corazón, Colonias Unidas the achievements made in these
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This recognition of the CRC by the
municipalities is an achievement
because it empowers these
communities to prevent violence,
counter corruption and promote
civic responsibility, contributing to
the development of the nation.
JULY 2013 EDITION
IMPACTOS PROGRAM - HONDURAS
Community Revitalization Committee
Inaugurated Community Center
In San Pedro Sula, the Community
Revitalization Committee (CRC) of
the Callejas community inaugurated
the remodeled community center
remodeling of this neighborhood,
that will be used for activities that
promote the development of the
town.
protect the renovated facilities.
The Director of the Impactos
Program, Gloria Manzanares,
participated in the activity, as well
as the Comisión de Acción Social
Menonita (CASM), Amparo Peña,
who reiterated the commitment of
both social organizations with the
revitalization of the communities
Until now, the Callejas community and families in development.
did not have a proper place to train
young people and adults in issues It is worth remembering that the
such as microenterprise, values and Impactos Program seeks to improve
employability, among others, all public and community safety by
aimed at preventing violence.
means of strengthening the skills of
communities and local governments
The refurbishment of the community to prevent violence through the
center building was focused on creation of social opportunities for
the construction of restrooms, the young people and through local
suitability of the kitchen, the repair empowerment.
of the roof and walls, as well as the
installation of a perimeter fence to
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JULY 2013 EDITION
IMPACTOS PROGRAM - HONDURAS
FOPRIDEH conducts training on new NGO law
The Federación de Organizaciones
No Gubernamentales de Honduras
(FOPRIDEH)
publicized
the
Ordinance of “The Special Law for
Promotion of Development NonGovernmental
Organizations”
(DNGOs) in the cities of Tegucigalpa,
San Pedro Sula and Santa Rosa de
Copán during the month of July.
establishing an NGO, which range
from the call for assembly to the
application of legal status with
the Secretariat of the Interior and
Population.
This DNGO Law excludes from its
scope the political parties, churches,
unions, employers’ associations,
trade
unions,
professional
associations, cooperative peasant
businesses, union organizations
and other groups which do not
meet the provisions of the relevant
regulations.
The
publicity
provided
by
FOPRIDEH focused on the added
value that the Ordinance offers to
the Law within the framework of in
its applicability, as well as address
the scope of the Ordinance and the
Law, as applied to the rights and For purposes of the Law, it shall
be understood that a Development
obligations of the social sector.
Non-Governmental Organization
During the training sessions, the is “any private entity, apolitical in
participants stressed the repeated the partisan sense, non-profit and
problems that there are with the without predominantly union,
with
Registration and Tracking Unit of labor or religious goals,
Civil Associations (URSAC) and different objectives that contribute
the recommendations were made to humanitarian and integral
to take advantage of the new legal development of the population,
framework in order to be solving defined by its members. The NGOs
are created independently of local,
these difficulties.
regional and national governments,
Soon, FOPRIDEH will be in the as well as international cooperation
cities of Catacamas, Choluteca organizations, whether bilateral
and then again in Tegucigalpa, or multilateral. The Development
information that is available on the Non-Governmental Organizations
FOPRIDEH website: www.foprideh. must maintain independence from
the state. Their collaboration with
org .
the State will take into account
The Special Law for Promotion of public policies or strategies of the
Developmental Non-Governmental State in matters of development,
Organizations was passed by under a framework of freedom
the Congress and published in and willingness, in activities
“La Gaceta” on June 27, 2011. that correspond to the purposes
This subjects all the DNGOs, and objectives of the particular
whether foundations or non- organization, through just and fair
profit associations, which have the mechanisms”.
characteristics defined in Decree
32-2011 on the requirements for It is worth mentioning that among
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the DNGOs that participated in
briefings held by FOPRIDEH
were: SHECHINAH, Doctors of
the World, Oxfam, World Relief of
Honduras, MOPAWI, BCH, Ayuda
en Acción, COHEP, Alianza Verde,
IDH, UATP/SDP , the Amando
Joshua Foundation, PAG, FOSDEH,
CARE, SAG, ANDI, the Foreign
Ministry, Save the Children,
IHNFA, FEREMA, the Covelo
Foundation, FUNDEVI, CCT, ASJ,
Mentes en Acción, CASM, the
Horizontes de Amistad Foundation,
the Llaves Foundation, ODEF,
ALFALIT, the Pro Niño Foundation,
COIPRODEN, RETE, Habitat for
Humanity, Casa Hogar, Orphan
Helpers, Buclaner Honduras, AIEH,
ASIDE, the Ruth Paz Foundation,
Children International, the Mama
Project INC. of Honduras, the
Pauline Fathers Association /
Friends Forever, MOMUCLAH,
THE CCT network of the Sula
Valley, ASONOG, Hermandad de
Honduras, Alternative Integral
Development,
COPRAOL,
the PILARH Juvenile Social
Foundation, the Katalysis Network,
Compassion, SETELEC, IHDER,
Compartir,
APH,
ADESAH,
FUNHDICOMUN,
AMITIGRA
and CADERH.
Impactos is a program that has
existed for 5 years, which seeks
to form partnerships between
CSOs and government agencies,
to promote the knowledge of
advocacy skills, and influence
public policies through the CSOs in
order to establish mechanisms for
transparency and accountability.
JULY 2013 EDITION
IMPACTOS PROGRAM - HONDURAS
WWW.PROGRAMAIMPACTOS.ORG
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