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PAST & ONGOING PROJECTS
Indigenous Women’s
Capacity Building and Self Determination in Honduras
 Partner:
Alianza Verde
Indigenous
communities in Honduras – like indigenous communities around
the world – are among the most poor and marginalized. Working
with CFCA’s local partner Alianza Verde, this project works
with indigenous women’s associations to build capacity,
develop a strong network amongst indigenous communities, educate
about women’s rights and engage communities in national
level policy dialogue.
'Community health, women’s rights,
environmental preservation: Strengthening indigenous capacity
in the Miskito rainforest of Honduras:
Partner: Alianza Verde
Indigenous communities in Honduras – like
indigenous communities around the world – are among the
most poor and marginalized. Working with CFCA’s local partner
Alianza Verde, this project works with indigenous women’s
associations to build capacity, develop a strong network amongst
indigenous communities, educate about women’s rights and
engage communities in national level policy dialogue.
Despite the immense natural wealth of their traditional territory,
the indigenous peoples of Honduras that inhabitant the incredibly
bio-diverse Miskito rainforest, face alarming rates of poverty,
lack of access to education and health care, high rates of domestic
violence, and environmental degradation. In the midst of these
crises, women's voices are not being heard at the community level
and they are being left out of the development process.
While community organizations do exist in this
region, they lack training and capacity to become engaged in active
dialogue and strategic planning for their communities’ development
– the women’s group are very new and exist with no
material or financial support . It is incredibly important that
local indigenous capacity be developed to participate in critical
dialogues about land use and sustainable and economic development
in the protected rainforest area in which they live. It is also
necessary that issues of discrimination against women, domestic
violence and women shouldering the burden of the worst forms of
poverty and exclusion be addressed by supporting these women themselves.
This project, therefore, proposes to develop a
strong network among indigenous communities, educate community
members about women’s rights and engage communities in national
level policy dialogue. CFCA’s local partner in Honduras,
Alianza Verde,itself an internationally respected indigenous NGO
from the Miskito rainforest with excellent project management
experience and intimate local knowledge will lead the project.
The project goals are to:
1) Increase the organizational capacity of indigenous
grassroots organizations to promote human rights and manage community
and environmental development of protected areas;
2) Increase awareness about indigenous rights and
environmental issues in the region; among local and national leaders;
3) Increase participation of indigenous people,
through indigenous organizations,in local management and development.
Contribute to Solutions - Please support this
important project!
HIV/AIDS EDUCATION FOR YOUTH AND MOTHERS IN ROATAN, HONDURAS
Partner: Familias Saludables (Healthy Families)
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here for project flyer
Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin
America and it is struggling with growing rates of HIV/AIDS infection.
Familias Saludables (FS) works on the Island of
Roatan in Western Honduras. They operate a training program that
educates youth about the prevention and early detection of HIV
and other Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STDs). They also operate
a mother to child HIV transmission reduction program. With Change
for Children support, FS will be able to create more programs
and reach more people affected by HIV/AIDS on the island.
Project purpose
This project addresses the HIV/AIDS crisis in Honduras
through: HIV education, STD treatment and prevention, advocacy
for human rights protection, and local capacity building. These
activities aim to enhance HIV/AIDS knowledge and awareness and
they aim to provide local skills and opportunities. As well, Change
for Children's project mandate is to facilitate Familias Saludables
participation in Honduran, Central American and international
networks in order to assist HIV/AIDS information sharing and to
foster a best practice dialogue.
Project goals
• To educate about safe sex, STD and pregnancy
prevention methods.
• To produce materials and workshops to reduce stigma and
discrimination towards Persons Living With Aids (PLWA) and to
provide them with employment as peer counsellors
• To promote and provide HIV/AIDS testing and to encourage
disclosure of disease status.
• To educate communities, with the participation of local
public figures and government representatives, about the human
rights of PLWA
• To encourage employers to respect the human rights of
PLWA
• To build networks between Honduran, Central American and
international organizations with expertise in addressing HIV/AIDS
issues, thus enhancing FS’s capacity to contribute to improving
the situation on Roatan.
Context of Honduras
• Honduras has a population of over 6.9
million people, growing at a rate of 2.5 percent per year.
• Social spending in Honduras on a per capita basis is the
second lowest in the region at US$58 per person, behind Nicaragua
• Two thirds of the population lives below the World Bank
poverty line of US$2 per day.
• Approximately one in four Hondurans earns less than $1
a day.
• Chronic malnutrition affects 33% of children under five.
• The average Honduran citizen attends school for only 5.3
years.
• Honduras accounts for 50% of known HIV/AIDS infections
in Central America, while its population is only about 17% of
Central America’s total population.
• The UN reports 3,300 children died from AIDS in Honduras
in 2001. Another 14,000 children are orphans, having lost their
parents to AIDS.
• The Honduran government is anxious to halt the spread
of HIV, but it is hindered by a lack of educated staff, lack of
funds, and a lack of direction. As a result, donated anti-retroviral
drugs from the Global Fund have gone undistributed.
• Poor conditions for PLWA are exacerbated by a lack of
adequate transport routes and health care infrastructure, poor
sanitation and limited access to safe water.
Change for Children’s 2005-2006 CIDA-funded intern, Lynn
Sutankayo, spent six months working with our partner in Honduras
and Change for Children has currently applied to CIDA to have
a 2007/08 intern in Honduras.
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