U.S. Embassy Supports Youth Violence Prevention

October 30, 2012

During the Memorandum of Understanding signing

The Alcance Positivo program, supported by the United States Embassy, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (M.O.U.) with Movimiento 507 Jóvenes contra la Violencia to raise awareness of the need to join forces to prevent youth violence in our country.

The Youth Movement Against Violence-Panama was created during the XXXIX Summit of the Central American Integration System (SICA), held last June in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, after analyzing the need to organize a united regional movement against delinquency and transnational organized crime.  The goals of the movement are preventing and influencing a decrease in youth and social violence with concrete actions; raising awareness in youth about the consequences of violence; engaging youth in the creation of a better quality of life; including youth in structured discussions with civil society and other players; developing education campaigns; and creating a youth document for Public Policies Against Youth Violence.

The Director of the Alcance Positivo program, Michael McCabe, said “With the signing of this agreement, Alcance Positivo will support Movimiento 507 in the execution of an action plan through the strengthening of values in education and the promotion of innovative activities.”

The actions that Movimiento 507 will perform will involve working with participating youth from the 22 Alcance Positivo Youth Outreach Centers in Panama, San Miguelito, Panama West and Colon, and will benefit around 5,000 youth.  These actions include discussions, sports activities, volunteering campaigns and much more.

For more information on the movement, please visit the Facebook page: Jóvenes contra la Violencia Panama.