The project consisted of a micro-credit link coordinated among the three Central American countries, to tackle the increasingly serious problems related to gang-driven street violence back-firing in the gangs’ countries of origin. The loans targeted former  members who decided/were encouraged to start up a business in their original village/town. Coordinating with local and national authorities, training activities were carried out to provide the people with the basic skills to run their businesses.

Loans were disbursed following a rigorous reinstatement policy. Some of the requirememnts were: establish a business in the original community; redistribute profits within the community; hire young people from the community; micro-credit repayment rates; engagement with the formal banking system; recurrent training. In case of any sort of involvement with the gang, active members, or illegal activities, the business with all its premises and capital shall be confiscated, and the loan repayment shall fall on to the extended family.

Thanks to a seamless coordination among the parties, the overall endeavour topped a repayment rate of 99.7%.

Due to the very sensitive nature of the project, the fact that its monitoring phase is still ongoing, the high risk of retaliation, and above all the responsibility to protect the target communities, no photographs or information about specific names and locations will be publicly disclosed.

The photogaph used here below is of public domain and does not represent any link to the project, IPSO, or its activities.