20 Youths head to San Salvador for anti violence conference

Phaedra Mohammed Ali

Twenty youths left for San Salvador before dawn this morning. The twenty delegates who left at five a.m. were not heading to a sporting event but to represent Belize in the “First Central American Youth Against Violence Forum”.  There will be delegations from the seven countries in the region, totaling to one hundred and forty youths sharing their views on how to stem crime and violence. Regional experts in public policy and violence prevention will participate in the forum. According to Phaedra Mohammed Ali, deputy coordinator for the Belize delegation, it is an opportunity that the delegates take very seriously since violence is particularly prevalent in the youth population.

Phaedra Mohammed Ali, Deputy Coordinator

“Twenty of our members left this morning to go to San Salvador. They went to attend a youth forum, the Central American Youth Forum Against Violence. The aim of the forum is to propose solutions to the violent situation in the Central American Region. There are representatives from the other seven Central American countries and it will be over two days, Thursday and Friday, they will be discussing the different solutions that they have to propose for the December twelfth Presidential Summit.

Jose Sanchez

“As a young person, you must know that the youth population is most affected by violence. What are some of those proposals, if you are aware, that our group intends to make? ”

Phaedra Mohammed Ali

“We’re basically building on what is already there so we’re basically trying to promote the incorporation of extracurricular activities so that young people can become active after school and other activities apart from academics to get those persons who are not really into the school set to use their hands to get trades and other skills.”

Jose Sanchez

“So upon returning, your group intends to share the knowledge and share the ideas of the other Central American Countries?”

Phaedra Mohammed Ali

“Well, our members are from established youth organizations already so they will be disseminating the information to their members and trying to get the stuff done; to ask those policy holders and those people who have the funding to get those activities and those proposals that they develop over this weekend done and implemented in the country to try and solve the whole violence issue with regards to youth.”

The Forum will be Thursday, November twenty-ninth and Friday, November thirtieth, 2012 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in San Salvador. The movement originated in 2011 when representatives of National Movements of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, along with the Secretary-General of the Central American Integration System (SICA ) met in San Salvador to create a Central American Youth Movement Against Violence.