Sec_C_ATTACHMENT_01_-_Nicaragua_Youth_Assessment.pdf

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NICARAGUA YOUTH ASSESSMENT

FINAL REPORT

JULY 2012

This report was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Task Order AID-OAA-BC-10-00001 of the Global Evaluation and Monitoring (GEM) II BPA, Contract EDH-E-00- 08-00003-00.It was prepared by the Aguirre Division of JBS International, Inc.Its authors are Melba Castillo Aramburu, María Ivette Fonseca, Scott LeFevre and John Swallow.

adinerstein Typewritten Text adinerstein Typewritten Text

ATTACHMENT 1

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NICARAGUA YOUTH ASSESSMENT

ASSESSMENT OF SECURITY AND CRIME PREVENTION ACTIVITIES,

WITH A FOCUS ON YOUTH AT RISK, ON THE CARIBBEAN COAST

OF NICARAGUA

The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

Nicaragua Youth Assessment

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This evaluation was undertaken in March/April 2011 by a team of four people: Melba Castillo Aramburu, Education Specialist; María Ivette Fonseca, Youth Specialist; Scott LeFevre, Youth Specialist; and John

Swallow, Team Leader and Governance Specialist.

Over the course of the evaluation, the team met and worked with many people who provided enthusiastic support to our efforts and we wish to thank them all, even if we cannot name them here.

We wish to give special thanks, however, to the following people:

Alicia Dinerstein, Chief, Office of Health and Education (OHE), USAID/Nicaragua

Alicia Slate, Education Specialist, OHE, USAID/Nicaragua

Gabriel Grau, Program Officer and Acting Deputy Director, USAID/Nicaragua

Kirk Dahlgren, Acting Mission Director, USAID/Nicaragua

Nicholas Griffith, Narcotics Affairs Officer, INL, U.S. Embassy

Gloria Rodriguez, Program Manager, INL, U.S. Embassy

Francisco Diaz, National Police General Commissioner, Yuri Valle Olivares, Regional Commissioner

RAAN, Rolando Colson, Sub Commissioner (RAAS), and Eleazar Oporta, Inspector and Youth Affairs

Officer (RAAS).

Jessica Rocha, Secretary of Education, RAAN

Nubia Ordoñez, Secretary of Education, RAAS

Georgia Narcisso and Ashley Hodgson of U.S. Peace Corps, as well as several Volunteers who were interviewed

Ray Hooker Taylor, President, Fundación para La Autonomía y Desarrollo de la Costa Atlántica de

Nicaragua (FADCANIC), and FADCANIC staff in Bluefields and Pearl Lagoon.

All of the NGOs, companies, police officers, school principals and teachers, representatives from the media, and especially the more than 70 youth who graciously provided us with their time, assistance, ideas and insights into the realities of their lives as they seek to find their paths in life.

Any errors in the report are the sole responsibility of the assessment team. Kindly note that sources are very often referenced for critical data and information, although where no source is listed in specific instances, it is understood that the information was received second-hand from one or more reliable key informants. Several sources are not listed to protect their identities, as the information could be considered confidential and/or sensitive. We use “Bilwi” and “Puerto Cabezas” interchangeably in this report to refer to the principal city in the RAAN because both names were commonly encountered in all settings.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Tables

Acronyms

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION

SECTION 2: CONTEXT AND STATISTICS

RISK FACTORS

SUMMARY OF THE MAJOR FEATURES OF THE CONTEXT OF THE CARIBBEAN REGION

SECTION 3: PROGRAMMATIC MODELS

PAST AND CURRENT PROJECTS/EXPERIENCES

Strengths and Potential Encountered

Notable Programs, Projects and Initiatives Underway

PROMISING PRACTICES AND MODELS

OTHER DONORS’ ACTIVITIES IN NICARAGUA

SECTION 4: OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATION

POTENTIAL PRIVATE SECTOR INVOLVEMENT

CROSS-SECTORAL OPPORTUNITIES

U.S. EMBASSY YOUTH AFFAIRS ADVISORY COMMITTEE .............. Error! Bookmark not defined.

SECTION 5: POLICY FRAMEWORK

SECTION 6: STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS .................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

BIbliography

ANNEX 1: Proposed Strategic Framework ................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

ANNEX 2: RAAS/RAAN Population and Poverty Data; Gang Statistics in Central America

ANNEX 3: Summary Tables: Existing Programs, Exemplary Models, Donor Activity, and

Recommendations for Youth in RAAS and RAAN

ANNEX 4: Complementary information of Notable Programs, Projects and Initiatives Underway in

RAAS and RAAN

ANNEX 5: List of Persons Met and Interviewed

ANNEX 6: Additional References and Sources

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Number of Homicides in the RAAS by Year………………………………………………... 6

Table 2: Interviews Conducted with Persons from these Organizations……………………………. 12

Table 3: Population of the Caribbean Regions by Age Group, 2011………………………………… 58

Table 4: Poverty Situation in 2009 in Percentages of the Total Population………………………….. 58

Table 5: Number of Gang Members and Gangs per Country………………………………………... 59

Table 6: Existing Projects and Programs supporting Youth At-Risk in the Caribbean Regions……... 60

Table 7: Specific Programs to Model or Expand on Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast, for USAID consideration…………………………………………………………………………………………...

Table 8: Donor Activity on Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast…………………………………………… 64

Table 9: Programmatic Recommendations to support Youth At-Risk on Nicaragua’s Caribbean

Coast, for USAID Consideration……………………………………………………………………

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ACRONYMS

AACID Andalusian Agency of International Cooperation for Development

AC Austrian Cooperation

ACRIC Regional Center Association for Information and Counseling on HIV-AIDS

(Asociación Centro Regional de Información y Consejería en VIH/SIDA)

ADMAJC Association of Caribbean Women, Adolescents and Youth (Asociación de

Mujeres Adolescentes y Jóvenes Caribeñas)

AEIJSA Association for Comprehensive Education for Healthy Youth (Asociación Educativa Integral para una Juventud Sana)

AJECIM Christian Force Youth Association of the Moravian Churches (Asociación de Jóvenes Esfuerzo Cristiano de la Iglesia Morava)

AMC Christian Medical Action (Acción Médica Cristiana)

AYAR Adolescents and Youth at Risk (10-24 years old)

BICU Bluefields Indian and Caribbean University

BIE Bilingual Intercultural Education

CAPS Center for Psycho-Social Care (Centro de Atención Psicosocial en Ciudad Sandino)

CDC U.S. Centers for Disease Control

CECNA German Nicaraguan Training Center (Centro de Capacitación Profesional Nicaragüense Alemán)

CEDEHCA Center for Human, Civil and Autonomous Rights (Centro de Derechos

Humanos, Ciudadanos y Autonómicos)

CEPREV Violence Prevention Center (Centro de Prevención de la Violencia)

CIDCA Human Rights Observatory, Atlantic Coast Information Center (Centro de

Investigación y Documentación de la Costa Atlántica)

CNA Code for Children and Adolescents

COPRAJ Occupational Prevention and Rehabilitation Center for Adolescents and

Youth (Centro de Prevención y Rehabilitación de Adolecentes y Jóvenes)

CPCs Citizen Power Councils

CRC Career Resource Center

CSR Corporate Social Responsibility

DANIDA Danish International Development Agency

DARE Drug Abuse Resistance Education

DEA U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency

DG Democracy and Governance (USAID)

EDC Education Development Center

EG Economic Growth (USAID)

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EIB Educación Inter-Cultural Bilingüe (or Inter-Cultural Bi-Lingual Education)

ENTERATE Educating and Eradicating Child Workers Work Activities and Operators

(Educando Niños Trabajadores y Erradicando Actividades y Trabajos

Explotadores)

EQUIP Educational Quality Improvement Program

FADCANIC Foundation for the Autonomy and Development of the Atlantic Coast of

Nicaragua (Fundación para la Autonomía y Desarrollo de la Costa Atlántica de Nicaragua)

FUP Fundación Universitaria Panamericana de Bogotá in Colombia

GIZ German Society for International Cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit)

GOA Government of Austria

GREAT Gang Resistance Education and Training

IEEPP The Institute for Strategic Studies and Public Policy (Instituto de Estudios Estratégicos y Políticas Públicas)

ILO International Labor Organization

INATEC National Technological Institute (Instituto Nacional Tecnológico)

INDES Institute for Economic and Social Development (Instituto

Interamericano para el Desarrollo Económico y Social)

INIDE The National Development Information Institute (Instituto Nacional de

Información de Desarrollo)

INJUDE Nicaraguan Youth and Sports Institute (Instituto de Juventud y Deportes)

INL Office of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement

IPCC Cristóbal Colón Polytechnic Institute (Instituto Politécnico Cristóbal Colón)

IYF International Youth Foundation

JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency

JP Job Placement

KNLS Kenya National Library Services

LSMS Living Standards Measurement Survey

MINED Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación)

MITRAB Ministry of Labor (Ministerio del Trabajo)

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

OEI Organization of Iberian-American States (Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos)

OHE Office of Health and Education (USAID)

OTSSPA-CSSJ Technical Office for Monitoring of the Adolescent Criminal System – Supreme Court of Justice (Oficina Técnica para el Seguimiento del Sistema Penal de Adolescentes - Corte Suprema de Justicia)

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PAC Project Advisory Committee

PCVs U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers

PPPs Public-Private Partnerships

PREVENSIDA USAID Project for the Prevention of Transmission of HIV/AIDS (Prevención del VIH/SIDA)

RAAN Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region (Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte)

RAAS Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region (Región Autónoma del Atlántico

Sur)

RAPSA Network for Psycho-social Care for Adolescent Offenders and High Risk

Youth

SBD Small Business Development

SCD Sustainable Institutional Capacity Development

SEAR Regional Autonomous Education Subsystem (Sistema Educativo Autonómico Regional)

SpO Special Objective

STD Sexually Transmitted Disease (Same as STI – Sexually transmitted infection)

TESIS Association of Workers for Education, Health and Social Integration

(Asociación de Trabajadores para la Educación, Salud e Integración Social)

TOT Training of Teachers

UNDP United Nations Development Program

UNFPA United Nations Population Fund

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Education Fund

URACCAN University of the Autonomous Regions of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua

(Universidad de las Regiones Autónomas de la Costa Caribe de Nicaragua)

USAID United States Agency for International Development

USDOL United States Department of Labor

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

USAID/Nicaragua is preparing a new Country Development Cooperative Strategy (CDCS) that will include a Special Objective (SpO) aimed at reducing crime and increasing personal, community and regional security in the Caribbean Coast region. This SpO will support formal and non-formal education and training opportunities for youth at-risk, ages 10-24, and build community cohesiveness to reduce chances of youth becoming involved in crime and illicit activities. Funds for this SpO are expected to come from the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) which focuses on crime and levels of citizen security, and USAID basic education funds, particularly goal 3 of the Education Strategy which concentrates on youth and young adults living in “crisis and conflict environments.”

The context in which young people live and attempt to thrive on the Caribbean Coast is characterized by multiple risk factors that contribute to their acute level of vulnerability. Principal risk factors— elements that greatly complicate their lives and which can lead to illicit activities—are prevalence of drugs and, worse, trafficking of drugs, along with alcohol abuse, disintegration of family and community ties, school abandonment, sexual abuse and risky sex, unemployment and bleak prospects for a job, and the weak presence of state institutions.

In RAAN (Región Aútonoma del Atlántico Norte), the segment of the population under age 24 is 66 percent of the total; in RAAS, (Región Aútonoma del Atlántico Sur) it is 63 percent. Some 70 percent of

RAAN’s population is rural, while 60 percent of RAAS’s population lives in rural areas. Another trait of the Caribbean regions is the multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-cultural composition. Various peoples exist in both regions, such as Miskito, Rama, Sumu/Mayangna, Twahkas, Panamakas and Ulwas. The Afro-descendant population, Creoles, and Garifunas comprise the ethnic groups. One continuing trend in the

RAAN is the arrival of more and more mestizos in the region, with the indigenous and Afro-descendant becoming even more of the minority as time goes on. This is especially true in the interior (central and western) parts of the RAAS and RAAN. The RAAS is much more in flux ethnically, with the biggest concentration of Afro-descendants, although the RAAN is still predominantly indigenous and Afro-descendant.

The number of violent deaths in RAAS and RAAN is rising sharply. In Bluefields in 2011, according to the Police Chief, there were 71 violent deaths or homicides, and in the first 11 weeks of 2012 there had been 18 more. Rates of incest, sexual abuse and rape of girls ages 6-16 are alarmingly high, with many cases not even reported. Criminal offenders are rarely brought to justice. In the RAAN, the National

Police have registered 20 high-risk youth groups with a total of 313 male members from 12 to 18 years of age. According to the National Police, as well as others interviewed, the prostitution of adolescents, beginning at 14 years of age, is growing in the RAAS through the occurrence of parties and other “social events” organized by drug traffickers.1

The growing disintegration of family and community ties was noted by many people interviewed as a key factor in the worsening crisis and youths’ feelings of insecurity. The exposure of adolescents to STDs, including HIV, is also linked to violence and lack of values and direction from the family. Few adolescent

1 Information obtained from Police Chief in Bluefields, National Police in the RAAN and other interviewees.

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men and women access health services because of shame or fear of reprimand, especially in relation to sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS2. The rate of STDs in the RAAS is 164 per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest among all regions of Nicaragua. The national average is 43.9 per 100,000 people.3

All indicators of education in the Caribbean region are poor; one of the most shocking indicators is that only two out of every ten young people in the corresponding age group are enrolled in secondary school, versus the national average of seven out of ten young people.

The team observed, and many interviewees stated, that there are insufficient spaces for sports and recreation, especially in the RAAS. There is no addiction rehabilitation center in the region to provide systematic and intensive care. Drugs are present in virtually the entire Caribbean region and are the major catalyst for social problems. Obtaining lethal weapons is relatively easy. Violence is spreading and is increasingly legitimated through criminal activities mainly connected to drugs. Inter-ethnic tensions, particularly in the RAAN, have percolated to the extent that several civic leaders told a team member that “it is a time bomb, waiting to explode.” Conflicts over property are the prime cause of daily conflicts and legal cases, and these are woven into tensions between ethnic groups which have different philosophies of land tenure and ownership: especially the perception of land as communal versus personal. Based on the risk factors listed above, and especially the prevalence of drugs and violence, the consulting team considers essentially all youth ages 10-24 in the RAAS and RAAN “at risk.”

The extensive document review, more than 100 interviews with key informants, focus group sessions with 76 youth at-risk, and nine days of field observation in the Caribbean region were critical in the team’s formulation of the proposed integrated strategy for these young people.

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION

a. Purpose

The purpose of this consultancy is to collect information on organizations and activities targeting at-risk youth and/or aiming to improve citizen security and contain the expansion of crime in the Caribbean

Coast region of Nicaragua, and to provide recommendations of programming options to

USAID/Nicaragua to inform the design of a Special Objective (SpO) for youth at risk.

b. Methodology

The principal methods of collecting information were:

A. Document review

B. Interviews (based on 10 interview guides developed by the team) of 103 people, selected in accordance with a first classification: key informants on the issues of violence and citizen security; boards of directors of NGOs that work in the region; youth leaders and religious leaders residing in the region; directors and personnel from the universities on the Caribbean

2 PrevenSida Project statistics, ENDESA, 2006 and information from interviewees

3 UNDP, 2011. Informe Nacional sobre Desarrollo Humano, page 93

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Coast; authorities from the National Police at the central and regional levels; officials from the regional government, the Public Ministry, the Ministry of Education, the National Technological

Institute (INATEC); representatives from the private sector; and journalists.

In addition, officials from the U.S. Embassy, Peace Corps and USAID were interviewed, along with personnel from USAID projects that work in the Caribbean region.

C. Focus group discussions with14 groups of at-risk youth totaling 76 youth: 49 boys and 27 girls.

Additionally, 6 parents (all women) were interviewed in two groups. Thus, a total of 82 people were interviewed in 16 focus groups.

The analysis of documents included material provided by USAID, many additional documents obtained by team members, and some provided by informants identified by the team of consultants.

The team worked actively to gather national and regional studies, statistics and other data directly relevant to its tasks. The team had the opportunity to establish several contacts with national and regional-level National Police to obtain useful information on crime and citizen security. Furthermore, intensive work was undertaken to obtain interviews with people suggested by the Mission and others who were particularly recommended by the interviewees, all in a short period of time.

The interviews were conducted in Managua and the two Caribbean regions: RAAS and RAAN. The team interviewed people in Bluefields, Pearl Lagoon, Kukra Hill, El Rama and Bilwi. Some of the interviews were conducted by two members of the team, but most were conducted individually. The information obtained from the interviews was circulated among the team to enable each member to understand the findings in every interview, and team members provided input to direct subsequent interviews.

The interview guides made it possible to organize the information according to the major requirements and sections established in the Scope of Work and ratified in the initial meeting with the USAID Mission.

With these elements, the team proceeded to analyze the information and to develop the proposal on priorities, areas of action and process indicators expected from the implementation of a USAID program for at-risk youth living on the Caribbean Coast.

Several other principles of the team’s methodology should be mentioned. The report was written with the idea of providing USAID with pertinent, practical, “hands-on” information related to what is working well and what programming and aspects have shortcomings, making viable and sustainable recommendations to the Mission. For multiple reasons, including limited funding for programming, the team paid special attention to the analysis of positive alliances and public-private partnerships which can contribute to at-risk youth development in the RAAS and RAAN. To the extent possible, good, ongoing programs have been identified, and the primary recommendations contained in this report are based on the results obtained. In summary, the JBS/Aguirre team is presenting USAID with viable, practical options and recommendations for programming.

Constraints

The primary constraint was a shortage of time to sufficiently review all documents recommended, meet with all organizations and persons we should have, conduct a most robust analysis, and generally to

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carry out the work in a full manner. This would have taken six to eight weeks, yet the timeframe was three weeks and two days.

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SECTION 2: CONTEXT AND STATISTICS

This section offers a succinct view of the major elements of the context of the Caribbean region, especially regarding those that constitute risk factors for youth, the main target group of this report. A portion of these contextual elements is from secondary information obtained from documentary analysis and from available statistical data. The other portion reflects the opinions of different people interviewed, especially young people on the Caribbean coast, who offered information and their perceptions and opinions regarding the environment that surrounds the youth of the Caribbean Coast.

The Caribbean regions of Nicaragua have the highest proportion of young population compared to the rest of the country. In the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), the population under 24 years of age constitutes 66 percent of the total population; and in the South Atlantic Autonomous Region

(RAAS), it is 63 percent. Nationally, this segment comprises 55 percent of the overall population (see

Table No. 1 in Annex 2). This is significant, because it means that the Caribbean regions, like Nicaragua and most of Latin America and the Caribbean, are undergoing a phase of demographic transition, known as the “youth bulge.”4 As a result of this shift in the composition of Latin American populations, it is essential that young people have increased educational, health, recreational and work opportunities. It is an, albeit time-constrained, opportunity if the right decisions and investments are made; but also a risk, as a number of societal ills will result if wrong choices are made, potentially causing social unrest and heightened citizen insecurity.

Another important element is the dispersion of the population. Thirteen percent of the total population of the country lives in this extensive geographic region (RAAS and RAAN) which encompasses approximately half of the national territory. While nationally 57 percent lives in urban areas and 43 percent in rural areas, 70 percent of the population of the RAAN and 60 percent of the population of the RAAS lives in rural areas.5

Another characteristic that defines the population of the Caribbean regions is its multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multicultural composition. Various peoples coexist in both regions, such as Miskito, Rama, Sumu/Mayangna, Twahkas, Panamakas and Ulwas.6 The ethnic communities are comprised of the Afro-descendant population, Creoles, and Garífunas. There is a longstanding trend of Pacific-based mestizos moving east into the Caribbean coastal areas, a dynamic which is much more intensified in the south than the north.

In the opinion of many of the people interviewed, the ethnic differences and migrations create division, and discrimination among the population is visible. There are indications of problems with ethnic identity as well as discrimination among municipal seats and local communities, as these groups vie for land, civic leadership, financial and educational gain, and other opportunities. Prosecutors, judges and magistrates, 4 The youth bulge is the working age population that will continue to grow more quickly than the dependent population that is of school-age or retirement age. In this situation there is a higher proportion of the population at ages when they are saving, investing, working and producing, while an increasingly smaller proportion require investments in education and health care.

5The National Development Information Institute (INIDE), Anuario Estadístico, 2008.

6United Nations Development Program (UNDP) 2005, Informe de Desarrollo Humano Las Regiones Autónomas de Costa Caribe, Nicaragua asume su diversidad, page 58.

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many of whom are originally from or were educated in other regions of the country, reportedly do not demonstrate a willingness to understand the idiosyncrasies and ethnic conflicts of these populations.

In communities throughout the coastal region, tensions are often caused by the advancement of the agricultural frontier into communal lands governed by indigenous groups. Territorial disputes are extremely common as attempts are made to privatize communal areas into cultivated fields. Tensions also result from the clear-cutting of forests and struggles for control of the felled trees and sale of timber, as well as cattle rustling. All of this creates an environment of conflict between newcomers and local populations, the latter of which have historically lived in relative harmony with the environment, without significant conflicts or environmental degradation. There are new signs of conflict for many areas such as the National Bosawás Reserve, for example, without an improvement in the capacity of the State to resolve them.

Poverty affects the majority of people living in the RAAS and RAAN. According to figures from the 2009

Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS), the poverty rate is at least ten percentage points higher than the national level. Poverty affects 68.8 percent of the population in the rural Atlantic regions (see

Table No. 1 in Annex 2). In 2009, the poverty rate was 42.5 percent in the country, overall.7

7 World Bank, 2011. An Update on Poverty and Inequality in Nicaragua: 9 Stylized Facts (2005-2009). http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2012/05/29/000427087_20120529110223/Rendered/PDF/69

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RISK FACTORS

The context in which local populations, and especially youth, live and gain their livelihoods is characterized by multiple risk factors that contribute to their acute levels of vulnerability.

Drug Trafficking and Consumption

Drug trafficking, which has transformed Central America into part of the drug corridor to North

America, also directly affects the two Caribbean Coast regions along the 700 kilometers of coastline.

The 560 metric tons of cocaine shipped through the region are equivalent to 14 grams for each of the

40 million people in Central America—an amount that carries a street value in the United States of about US$2,300 per capita.8 Given such figures, the resources of traffickers are massive. The value added to cocaine as it moves through the region is roughly 20 times Panama’s and Guatemala’s 2007 defense budgets of US$364 million. It also dwarfs (by more than 100 times) the relatively small US$65 million allocated by the United States under the Mérida Initiative to assist interdiction efforts by Central

American nations.9

In her 2011 report, the First Commissioner of the National Police, Aminta Granera, reported that there are 16 domestic groups coordinating with drug traffickers, acting as logistical support, providing security services and supporting the transport of drugs, at the national level. The international organizations pay the local groups with drugs; and the latter then introduce these drugs onto the local market. The three largest drug markets are Managua, Bluefields and Rivas, which have been producing weekly earnings of some eight million dollars, for the past two years. Drug trafficking is also linked to the high number of deaths related to property conflicts and land control in the Caribbean region.

According to the previously cited World Bank report, there are 268 gangs or criminal groups in

Nicaragua, comprised of 4,500 people10 (see Table No. 3 in Annex 2).Virtually all of the people interviewed believe that drug consumption is directly affecting the population of the Caribbean region.

They indicate that this is affecting community, family and individual relationships among community members, and youth in particular. They state that drug trafficking is the major catalyst of social problems, incentivizing individual and community complicity in order to engage people in illegal activity.

Among young people, there is a strong tendency to combine the consumption of illegal drugs, especially marijuana, crack and cocaine, with the consumption of alcohol,11 thereby multiplying the negative effects for youth and their health as they react to peer pressure and attempt to socialize.

8 This sum is equivalent to approximately double the per capita GDP of Nicaragua, estimated at US$1,132. World Bank. (2010).

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD

9World Bank, 2011 Crime and Violence in Central America: A Development Challenge, page 19.

10 Though this report does not explore deeply the issue of “gangs”, the consultant team finds it necessary to cite sources when using this term. Authors of reports by USAID as well as other experts agree that there is no commonly used definition, either globally or in Central America in particular. However, according to researchers cited by the National Gang Center (www.nationalgangcenter.gov), to qualify as a “gang”, five criteria are generally met: a group with three or more members, most often aged 12-24; members share an identity, typically linked to a name, and often other symbols; members view themselves as a gang, and they are recognized by others as a gang; the group has some permanence and a degree of organization; the group is involved in an elevated level of criminal activity. This is the definition of “gang” used in the present report.

11 According to one of our interviewees, the RAAS is now the area with the highest beer sales in the country.

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Violence associated with Drug Trafficking

The corridor in the RAAS established for drug traffic has led four large groups to struggle for the

Bluefields market, the major city of the region. The number of violent deaths has been on the rise:

Table 1: Number of Homicides in the RAAS by Year12

Year Number of

Homicides

2006 15

2007 30

2008 24

2009 28

2010 40

Most of these homicides have been in Bluefields municipality, with 33 violent deaths in 2010, and 44 in

2011. With a total population of 45,500 in the municipality, that translates into a rate of 73 and 97 homicides per 100,000 people, respectively, for the past two years. Nearby Pearl Lagoon is not far behind with six homicides in 2011, and with a population of just 10,700, this translates into 56 homicides per 100,000 people.13 Seventy percent of Bluefields deaths were young people (18 to 25 years of age) linked to drug dealers and drug trafficking. The involvement of local populations in trafficking is explained by the sparse presence of public institutions and the fear of the population of being left unprotected and becoming a target for punishment by the drug traffickers if they do not assist them.14

According to a respected journalist the team interviewed, the Police Chief of RAAS reported on March

21 at a press conference at the Bluefields police station that so far in 2012 there had been 17-18 violent deaths in Bluefields. Only seven alleged murderers have been accused before a judge or prosecutor, and the other 10-11 are free, according to the Police Chief. It is commonly accepted that despite increasing assassinations, impunity is also increasing, and those who have committed murders are often not punished. The Police Chief revealed that 71 violent deaths actually occurred in Bluefields in 2011 (higher than the 44 indicated by IEEPP, noted above), of which 42 went to the justice system, while 29 cases

12 Source: IEEPP. (2011). Delitos y drogas en Bluefields.

13 Kukra Hill has not had a murder in over a year, and El Rama data (which was partial) revealed a homicide rate of approximately 15 per 100,000 inhabitants for the first half of 2011 – with the police estimating that the rate for the whole of

2011 was roughly constant.

14The Institute for Strategic Studies and Public Policy (IEEPP) 2011, Delitos y Drogas en Bluefields; and also conversation with one of the authors of the report, Roberto Orozco on March 16, 2012 (specifically, the statistic of 44 homicides for Bluefields for 2011 was given verbally).

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remain outstanding. This would translate into a homicide rate of 156 per 100,000 people in the

Bluefields municipality.

In the Caribbean region, the increase in drug trafficking activity has brought with it the formation of groups of highly at-risk youth who commit crimes against their neighbors and their neighborhoods, often under the effects of drugs. Furthermore, fights are reported between youth who have dropped out of school and are not working. In Bluefields, the National Police reported that there are 24 groups;

of these only 12 receive social or psychological attention. The groups of highly at-risk youth are comprised of young people, generally males, from 11 to 17 years of age who often commit armed robbery, carry homemade weapons, and are occasionally arrested for aggravated assault with knives when they fight over territory and seek revenge after being attacked. In the RAAN, the National Police have registered 20 groups of youth highly at risk with a total of 313 male members from 12 to 18 years of age; of these, 166 are in school: primary, secondary and university.

The Adolescent Court in the RAAS has heard 15 cases so far in 2012, and in 2011 it heard 18 cases with final verdict and 169 cases total. All of these were cases of young men from 15 to 18 years of age.

Women seldom participate in these groups directly, but they are vulnerable because they live in the community and are often girlfriends or friends of the youth involved. Their partners are generally not monogamous and this increases their risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including HIV. Young women who are involved with the groups are usually between 15 and 25 years of age.

According to the team’s interview with the above-mentioned journalist, the Chief of the National Police for RAAS shared some statistics on crimes against girls and women at the March 21st press conference in Bluefields. The National Police stated there were more than 1,095 reported rapes of girls and women ages six and above last year in RAAS. Some 855 were presented to the police for formal charges, and 240 more to the Comisaría de la Mujer. Most of these were the result of violence within families. In the municipality of Tortuguero, there were an estimated 65 rapes of girls ages 6-16 in 2011 where victims did not report the crimes to the police because of possible reprisals. There were also 10 cases of incest which resulted in the birth of a child. Of the 65 rapes, no one is in jail; it is the same with the 10 known incest cases. There were 46 reported cases of girls raped in the La Cruz de Rio Grande community last year. No one is in jail or being processed by the judicial system.

There has been an increase in the number of youth seeking quick and easy money. Traffickers encourage them to protect internal drug routes, and women are frequently in charge of the points of sale. It is clear that the drug traffickers have learned to use youth to recruit other youth (a peer/youth-to-youth methodology). In particular, they recruit those who can cause fear in the neighborhood, or those who are most attractive to young women. The women are less visible in this panorama although they, in fact, are the ones responsible for moving drugs from one neighborhood to another, and often for selling them in the schools. The percentage of women charged with crimes, according to the Regional

Prosecutors’ Office, is approximately 10 percent, and they are mainly between the ages of 15 and 17 and are no longer in school.

In the RAAS, prostitution of adolescents, beginning at 14 years of age, is growing through parties organized by the drug traffickers. According to reports, daily payment to these young girls ranges from

$100 to $500 or in-kind payment of drugs. Some 70 adolescent women have been identified as

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responsible for direct sales of drugs in the bathrooms of discotheques in Bluefields. Frequently, the discotheques, which serve as meeting places for youth, become the location of fights, uncontrolled rage on the part of the involved youth, and destruction of property. The prevalence of drugs and prostitution may also be related to high rates of teenage sexual activity and pregnancy. One indicator of the high rate of sexual activity of young women without the use of contraceptives is that, in the small neighborhood of Pointeen, there are some 13 adolescents who are already young single mothers. Nicaragua has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Central America with 111 births for every 100,000 young women, and the rate of teenage pregnancy is even higher on the Caribbean Coast15. Further exacerbating the situation, abortion is illegal in Nicaragua, and the ban applies even in situations where continued pregnancy risks the life or health of the woman, and where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest16.

In communities of the RAAN, retail drug trafficking is based on payment in kind by the traffickers, and this has permeated local communities. Talamana is an ancient practice of the Miskito people (RAAN) which means that if crimes such as rape and abduction are committed, the family of the victim should be given some payment as restitution.17 Talamana is being utilized by the drug traffickers for the purchase and sale of girls and adolescents.

Deterioration of Social Fabric Family and Community

The growing disintegration of family and community ties is noted by the people interviewed as one of the factors that worsen the crisis and insecurity perceived in the Caribbean regions. Migration, increasingly due to the lack of jobs in the region, fosters this situation, as many parents, including mothers, are forced to seek work outside the region, leaving their children in the care of relatives or neighbors. This is compounded by eventual divorce or abandonment, primarily because fathers leave the region to work and eventually take new wives and have more children. Interviews in two depressed neighborhoods of Bluefields revealed estimates that around one in ten families is “traditional,” with both father and mother present. The rest consist mostly of single mothers and their children, but also there were cases of grandparents raising their grandchildren, and even adolescents and late-teenagers living together unsupervised. In that latter situation, it is not uncommon to see teenagers raising younger siblings while raising their own children as well.

One aspect that was mentioned by many of those interviewed was the family violence that affects women, girls, boys, adolescents and youth. Girls and young women make up the vast majority of victims of sexual and domestic abuse. They often become mothers while in their early teens, without any profession, and in many cases as a result of rape. The young mothers often depend on their partners, if the male stays and supports her. The generally low level of schooling of adolescent girls causes greater subjugation, and machismo becomes more acute. Sexual norms are such that a girl is considered ‘eligible’ once she reaches puberty, and it is not uncommon, especially among out-of-school girl youth, for them fall prey to sexual attacks as young as 11or 12 years old.

15 World Bank. (2008). Adolescent fertility rate. http://data.worldbank.org 16 Amnesty International. (2009). Nicaragua: Amnesty International Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review

17 UNDP, 2011. Informe Nacional sobre Desarrollo Humano, page 112

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The exposure of adolescents to STDs such as HIV is also linked to violence and the lack of direction and oversight from the family. Few adolescent men and women use public health services because of shame or fear of reprimand. The rate of STDs in the RAAS is 164 per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest in

Nicaragua.18 The rate of HIV in the RAAN is 21 per 100,000 inhabitants, the fourth highest in the country, after Chinandega and Managua. HIV prevalence rates have increased considerably in the RAAS and RAAN in recent years.19

School Abandonment

School abandonment20 is a key risk factor for youth, aggravated by the situations of violence and family disintegration described above. In both coastal regions, only two of every ten youth who are the appropriate age attend the first cycle of secondary school21; and for the second cycle, only one of every ten youth attends school. These are the lowest rates in the country.22 In Managua and Carazo, which have the highest rates of enrollment in Nicaragua, five out of ten youth (50%) attend the first cycle and

26 percent attend the second cycle of secondary school.

Not all children, adolescents and youth who begin school remain there. The Caribbean regions have the highest school drop-out rate in the entire country and, particularly, the RAAS is the highest in the nation. Seventeen percent of those who begin primary school and more than 20 percent of those who begin the first cycle of secondary school leave school. In the RAAN, the figures are 14.9 percent in primary and 17.5 percent in the first cycle of secondary.23 Dropping out of school can be related to a variety of factors including domestic violence and the inability of the family to meet the costs associated with education, such as transportation, clothing, and school supplies.24 Another element mentioned by some of the youth interviewed is that the drop-out rate becomes worse with the absence of one or both parents due to migration.

These drop-out rates in both Caribbean regions explains why “only 43 and 42 percent of youth from 15 to

19 years of age would have finished primary school in 2010, while the national average is 65 percent.”25 The same source reports that only 44 percent of the population from 15 to 24 years of age in the RAAN and 45 percent of that population in the RAAS have at least a fourth grade education.

The few job opportunities and low levels of schooling, together with the high school drop-out rates, by themselves place the large majority of the youth population of the region in a situation of high vulnerability and risk.

18 UNDP, 2011. Informe Nacional sobre Desarrollo Humano, page 93 19 World Bank, 2006. Reducing HIV/AIDS Vulnerability in Central America: Nicaragua: HIV/AIDS Situation and Response to the

Epidemic, page 2

20 In this context, this includes those who have never been to school.

21From first to third year of secondary school, or seventh to ninth grades. The second cycle encompasses fourth and fifth year of secondary school or 10th and 11th grades.

22Ministry of Education (MINED), 2011, Plan Estratégico de Educación 2011-2015.

23Idem.

24 MINED, Plan Estratégico de Educación.

25Asensio, C. (2011) “Situación y Perspectivas en Nicaragua para Universalizar una Educación Primaria de Calidad” Avances y Retos para cumplir con el Objetivo de Desarrollo del Milenio No.2.” Eduquemos- UNICEF, Managua, Nicaragua.

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Weak Presence of State Institutions

Frequently, those who are arrested on drug charges are quickly freed from jail by lawyers hired by traffickers, resulting in an increasing perception of impunity. It is noted that this does not happen when they are captured by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as they are then transferred to Managua.

Also, the hiring of assassins is increasing, although none has been captured thus far; therefore there is little information about their recruitment and operations. It is known that many appear to be peasants who live in the mountainous areas of the interior and it is assumed that they are mestizos.

In the communities, the state is perceived as weak even though there are officials of the Naval Forces, teachers, nurses and National Police. Criminal legislation of the country also exists, although people do not perceive it in practice. “References are made to the law as if it existed and was properly enforced, but as long as it doesn’t affect them, it doesn’t exist for them,” stated one of our interviewees.

The penitentiary system of the RAAS is overcrowded, and incarcerated youth do not have opportunities to learn an occupation or trade. There is no juvenile penitentiary system in the RAAN. In one case, eleven young people sentenced to four years share one small jail cell, and youth are kept in jail alongside adult criminals with no access to any rehabilitation activity. No addiction rehabilitation center has been established in the RAAN to provide even periodic, let alone full-time, care. The very few “facilities” which do exist are managed by small civil society organizations, are only open during the day or for a few hours, and do not have the capacity to provide follow-up assistance.

There are insufficient spaces for sports or recreation in the RAAS. There is only one park in the entire city of Bluefields and, although there are four basketball courts, only two are in suitable condition, the others lack electricity, so they cannot be used at night.

The Public Ministry in the RAAS only has a presence in Bluefields and Corn Island. Due to the distance, budget and the limited personnel, government institutions offer little coverage. There are currently 290 prosecutors in the Public Ministry, and it is estimated that there should be at least 800 to cover the national territory and deal with the enormous number of files. It would be ideal for a prosecutor to handle 12 cases per month, but currently he or she handles 50 cases.26 One of the interviewees stated:

“Justice is not accessible or prompt, which sends a message that there is impunity; you can commit a crime and nothing happens. There are places that are very far away and the victims have to come in to Bluefields. That travel takes time and they have to transport their witnesses. Therefore, people do not want to come in, the cost is high and it takes a long time. Under those conditions, people don’t report crimes. So access to justice is difficult. In those places, a person who is a victim has two paths: either put up with it or take justice into their own hands. The State is not able to look for evidence, so rapes are not reported. A rape victim, after the rape, must spend money to get justice.”27

The lack of prosecutors is illustrated well in Pearl Lagoon. With no prosecutor locally, cases have to be reported to Bluefields which, as noted, is already overloaded. According to the local police chief in Pearl

Lagoon, the Bluefields prosecutor will only look into a case of (a) homicide, (b) assault/rape or (c)

26RAAS Regional Prosecutors’ Office.

27 The names of many interviewees are being kept confidential due to the sensitive nature of the subjects discussed.

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property theft of more than 15,000 cordobas(~$650). Possession of drugs, common property theft, and much more go unreported as there is certainty there would be no follow-up by the police. With Pearl

Lagoon relatively close to Bluefields (50 minute boat ride), one can easily imagine how little rule of law actually exists outside these near-urban areas.

SUMMARY OF THE MAJOR FEATURES OF THE CONTEXT OF THE CARIBBEAN

REGION

Drugs are present in virtually the entire Caribbean coastal region and are the major catalyst for social problems.

The major risks faced by youth are: (1) drugs and alcohol; (2) violence, crime, 28 delinquency as well as sexual abuse, early pregnancy and the spread of STDs; (3) family and community disintegration; (4) school abandonment along with a lack of educational and employment opportunities for youth, and (5) the weak presence of state institutions.

One can consider virtually all the youth in the RAAS and the RAAN “at risk”: they see dealing and use of drugs at a high frequency, from once daily to at least once a week; violence surrounds them and affects them at home, in school and in the community. A gender analysis of risk authored by the team finds that adolescent girls and young women in the urban areas suffer under commercial sexual exploitation and the transportation and sale of drugs; adolescent girls and young women in the rural areas are subjected to sexual abuse accompanied by impunity and the deterioration of traditional practices for social protection due to the acceptance of payment to compensate for sexual crimes against children, adolescents and youth.

Violence is spreading through criminal activities mainly connected to drugs, inter-ethnic tensions, particularly in the RAAN, and poor ability to manage and resolve social conflicts.

In the RAAS and RAAN, youth at risk are clustered in groups that often commit crimes of theft and assault and are seen fighting amongst each other, but which have not yet become “gangs.”

28Conflicts over property are the prime cause of every day tension, conflicts and cases being brought – and these are woven into tensions between ethnic groups which have a different understanding of property rights.

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SECTION 3: PROGRAMMATIC MODELS

PAST AND CURRENT PROJECTS/EXPERIENCES

This section presents a description of the social and organizational fabric encountered in the Caribbean regions – and to some measure in Managua – after having identified programs, core work areas and activities aimed at serving adolescents and youth in situations of risk. This synthesis is a product of the data obtained through the interviews conducted with representatives and individuals that provided information about the context and scope of their activities. The interviews covered a broad spectrum of representatives from the following organizations:

Table 2: Interviews Conducted with Persons from these Organizations

Type of…