Latin America Projects

Nicaragua

Paraguay

Honduras (coming soon)

May 2024 - May 2026

Together with GILDAN and the Ministry of Education we are implementing the project in 2 public schools located in the departments of Rivas and Masaya, We will contribute to MINED´s Technology Integration Model facilitating children´s access to e-learning platforms, strengthen socio-emotional skills and the development of competencies and methodological content of teachers and thus strengthen the learning process of girls and boys, enabling technological spaces, promoting the use of digital tools for learning and equipping schools with playful and pedagogical materials. We will also be promoting parent’s involvement in children´s education, protection and addressing the importance of making safe use of the internet and social networks.

May 2024 – October 2024.

In collaboration with WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP), we will implement a project to strengthen the capacity of rural women from 6 cooperatives to develop a ¨Culture of Saving and Women´s Economic Empowerment¨ through training and the organization of Savings Groups based on the methodology VSL (Village, Saving and Loans) reviewed and adapted by Children Believe.  

Our Centre of Excellence "Breaking barriers to education, towards economic opportunities" is an initiative focused on employability, youth entrepreneurship and women and youth´s economic empowerment, through vocational training, life skills and business skills capacity development, training to develop or start entrepreneurships and interactions with private sector stakeholders using online tools such as Krezco platform. We developed the following actions:

• We activate the Knowledge Centre to create products that enable experience and learning.                                               

Activities that generate interaction between youth and potential employers.

• We rganize learning spaces with expert stakeholders and young people on education and development of economic opportunities.
• And we raise awareness about economic opportunities for youth.

Thematic Projects:

PROTECTION:

We work to strengthen the capacities of children, adolescents and their families to prevent any form of violence, through campaigns, awareness-raising actions and attention to victims of violence, we promote positive parenting; we also strengthen their knowledge so that they can use digital platforms in a safe way, thus being able to have a safe and protective environment where they can develop their full potential.

EDUCATION:

We believe that education is the tool to transform the environment, so from an early age we develop skills through play so that children can strengthen their knowledge, we promote the use of digital platforms that allow them to continue learning in innovative ways, we support teachers to continue strengthening their skills, and we support with technological equipment and supply of materials that strengthen the learning of children and adolescents. 

PARTICIPATION:

We promote spaces where children can express themselves through art, painting, theatre or a group of communicators where they identify issues that affect children in their community and create communication pieces to raise awareness in the community, we know they have a lot to contribute and that is why we listen to what they have to tell us to improve our programmatic activities; we also create links so they can share experiences with other children.

GENDER:

We focus our actions for girls and women empowerment, personal and professional development with a gender approach, strengthening the development of technical and life skills, promoting the use of digital tools as a way of learning, we create economic opportunities for youth and especially for women, from a very early age we promote savings in childhood and strengthen their knowledge when they are adolescents so they can start a business idea.

April 2021 - March 2022

The $7.3-million EMPUJE (Youth Employability: Closing the Gender Gap in Youth Employment in Nicaragua) initiative is a four-year project designed to improve the well-being of 12,000 youth (60 percent women) in six provinces of Nicaragua.

Children Believe is leading the project in partnership with local partners and government.

The project aims to boost life skills and soft skills among youth, so they can: identify, gain and retain employment; gain awareness of gender equality in accessing and identifying non-exploitative job opportunities; improve opportunities in engaging youth, especially women, in dialogue and consultations with potential employers and/or employment services; and improve access to skill-training.

Funding partner: Global Affairs Canada

March 2017 - December 2020

Children Believe is leading a $15.2-million regional project in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua, designed to improve the well-being of children and youth who are at risk of irregular migration. The Government of Canada is contributing $12.6 million to the four-year project. The initiative addresses a number of the root causes that fuel irregular migration — from high levels of crime and violence, limited employment and educational opportunities, to social exclusion and a lack of information on the inherent dangers of migrating without following the normal immigration procedures. For this project, Children Believe is partnering with two non-governmental organizations: ChildFund International-USA and Educo.

Funding partner: Global Affairs Canada

French translation

Prévenir la migration irrégulière des enfants en Amérique centrale (PICMCA) Children Believe est responsable d’un projet régional de 15,2 millions de dollars canadiens au Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexique et Nicaragua, visant à améliorer le bien-être des enfants et des jeunes qui sont à risque de migrations irrégulières. Le Gouvernement du Canada participe au financement de ce projet à la hauteur de 12,6 millions de dollars canadiens, et ce sur une période de quatre ans. L’initiative s’attaque à un certain nombre de causes profondes qui engendrent la migration irrégulière des enfants : niveaux élevés de criminalité et de violence; opportunités d’emploi et d’éducation limités; exclusion sociale; et, un manque d’information sur les dangers inhérents à la migration irrégulière, c’est-à-dire, hors des procédures normales d’immigration. Pour la mise en œuvre de ce projet, Children Believe’s associe aux organismes non gouvernementaux ChildFund International-États-Unis et Educo.

Funding partner: Global Affairs Canada

August 2019 - June 2020

Nicaragua ranks second among countries most affected by tropical storms and 30th among countries most affected by earthquakes, according to the UN’s “Global Report on Reducing Disaster Risk.” Children are most vulnerable during disasters as they usually comprise 50 to 60 percent of those affected.

This project targets 6,000 children and adults in Managua, Ciudad Sandino, Masaya, Estelí, Pueblo Nuevo, and Somoto, the most vulnerable communities where we work. Together, youth and adults are strengthening their emergency-preparedness processes, enhancing their ability to manage risk as it relates to child protection.

June 2019 - May 2020

There are high levels of violence towards women in Nicaragua’s northern city of Estelí. The attacks manifest physically, psychologically, economically and sexually, and they often continue in the patriarchal society where women are commonly financially dependent on their aggressors.

This project is empowering 50 women who meet regularly for self-help reflection and mutual support, while discussing issues related to self-esteem, identity, self-care, women’s health as well as training in laws passed to protect and prevent gender violence. The women are also motivated to manage their individual and collective development, as many will have access to job and entrepreneurship training, based on their interests.

Starting in July 2024, the Mita Arandu project—named with the Guaraní words “Mita” meaning “child” and “Arandu” meaning “smart”—will support over 600 children aged 3 to 5 in the districts of Abaí and San Juan Nepomuceno, Caazapá. Led by Children Believe and funded by KOICA through ChildFund Korea, the project aims to enhance educational environments, build teaching capacities, and promote positive parenting practices and nutrition awareness among families and caregivers over a three-year period.

Responding to the region's significant challenges, including inadequate educational infrastructure, limited resources, and insufficient teacher and caregiver training, Mita Arandu will address these gaps to improve early childhood education. The need to strengthen the capacities of teachers and parents/caregivers in Early Childhood Care and Education are critical aspects that require immediate attention. The project will be implemented in partnership with Fundación Alda and coordinated with Paraguay’s Ministry of Education and Sciences (MEC), fostering nurturing learning spaces to boost school readiness and long-term academic outcomes.

Beginning in August 2024, Phase II of the Emergent Literacy project will support 93 schools in Caazapá and Guairá to improve school readiness for children aged 3 to 6. The project focuses on developing essential early literacy skills such as oral language, phonological awareness, and storytelling to prepare children for formal education and reduce grade repetition.

Phase I showed increased family involvement and positive shifts in educational practices. Phase II will directly benefit 3,568 individuals (2,385 women and 1,183 men) and indirectly reach 9,657 people (4,770 girls/women and 4,887 boys/men).

Emergent Literacy is a Children Believe project with funds from the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (TFCF), implemented directly by Children Believe in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MEC).

Children Believe Paraguay has been a leader in child protection and participation, playing a key role in the "WEB Safe & Wise: Creating a Better Digital World with Children" campaign under the ChildFund Alliance. As a representative of children and youth groups in Paraguay, Heriberto has been instrumental in advocating for online safety and digital literacy, including his impactful participation in the Safer Internet Day event in Manila, Philippines, in February 2024. Meet the council members.

The "WEB Safe & Wise" campaign focuses on promoting online safety among children and youth, with active engagement from children in campaign activities. Key achievements include the development of a digital toolkit, resources for online safety, and a campaign microsite.

Heriberto's participation in the Safer Internet Day event held February 2024 brought global visibility to Paraguay’s efforts in child-led digital safety. As a panelist and a member of the UN's Intergenerational Dialogue on Child Protection Online. As a panelist, Heriberto shared insights and experiences from Paraguay with peers from Mexico, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and India, highlighting the innovative approaches and successes of our programs in online safety. These efforts have contributed to the success of the campaign and will continue to drive child protection discussions, culminating in the first National Forum in August 29, 2024.

Heriberto's work has strengthened international collaborations and ensured that children’s voices are central to child protection efforts, particularly in the digital space.

February - June 2020

In Paraguay, it’s difficult to access pre-elementary education, which comes at the most critical time of a child’s development. This is especially the case in poor communities where there’s low literacy and scant ability to promote a formal education where children can feel safe and appreciated. So, 600+ girls and boys were excited to access educational supplies — colouring books, educational games, music equipment and more — and safe spaces to learn the government’s early-childhood development curriculum at 10 public schools and eight Children Believe-organized community spaces.

February - June 2020

Dental care is hard to find in certain regions of Paraguay, so we implemented this project to improve access for more than 6,000 people from the Blas Garay community. We provided dentistry equipment and health supplies to the local health clinic, and the Ministry of Health provided a dentist to administer care.

Partner: Paraguay’s Ministry of Health

February - June 2020

Our goal was to improve hygiene and promote disease prevention in more than 30 schools by providing access to safe drinking water and developing educational resources on keeping clean and healthy. The installation of 124 water fountains, 12 sinks and 20 fans as well as the distribution of 600 personal- hygiene packs and 600 oral-hygiene packs benefited nearly 30,000 people.

August 2018 - August 2019

More than 40,000 people benefited from this project aimed at raising social awareness about the importance of child participation and child protection in Paraguay’s Remansito, Limpio and Villeta communities. Child and youth groups learned their rights, leveraging three reference centres renovated to use as meeting places where they built their knowledge and grew their leadership skills. Young advocates who benefited from the project contributed to 20 commitments to improving children’s lives, a document their country’s President committed to enacting (See: “Strengthening the implementation…” project brief).

Funding partners: Taiwan Fund for Children and Families

December 2018 - November 2019

This initiative aligned with the United Nations’ global goals created in 2016 to end poverty and other global challenges by 2030. Goal 16.2 focuses on eradicating violence against children. The government of Paraguay, ChildFund Alliance and Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (now Children Believe) were actively involved in promoting the inclusion of Goal 16.2 in the global list. Subsequent to this, Paraguay was designated a “Pathfinder” country and, with the support of SOS Paraguay and UNICEF, presented an action plan to achieve 16.2.

As a result of the action plan, the government of Paraguay upgraded the National Secretariat for Children and Adolescents to a ministry level, creating a Ministry of Children and Adolescents. Later that year, the government also signed and ratified 20 commitments to children and adolescents.

Since then, young people in our programs have represented their country at global summits designed to end violence against children, and parents in our communities have benefited from positive parenting training and other initiatives.

Funding partner: Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children