Power Opportunities Rights Equity and Respect for Women and Adolescent Girls

The project aims to reduce sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) reduce adolescent pregnancies and advance the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of adolescent girls and young women in Indigenous rural communities in western Guatemala and Honduras. The project focuses on supporting the poorest and most vulnerable women and girls. In Guatemala girls between the ages of 10 and 14 are giving birth in astonishingly high numbers. In Honduras domestic violence remains the leading reported crime yet the number of unreported cases is much higher. Both Guatemala and Honduras have extremely high rates of violence that destabilizes the social and economic systems. Project activities include: (1) providing workshops on entrepreneurship business skills financial literacy and vocational skills to adolescent girls and young women; (2) providing support to SGBV survivors including adolescent-specific post-violence care services and counselling and resources to access safe houses; (3) providing training on gender equality SGBV detection and advocacy on both SRHR and the reduction of SGBV to community leaders youth councils women's health committees and community health committees; and (4) adolescent-specific SRHR services for adolescent boys and girls.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) reduced incidence of sexual and gender-based violence among adolescent girls and young women; and (2) reduced pregnancies among adolescent girls.