New York, NY, June 5, 2024 鈥 Representatives from the 探花精选 (探花精选), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and partner organizations of the USAID Research in Education for Transformative Opportunities (RETO) project discussed during a webinar on Wednesday about the lessons learned regarding the use of evidence to prevent violence through education in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Young people (children and adolescents) can be both victims and perpetrators of violence in Latin America which, by multiple indicators, is considered the most violent region in the world. In the virtual session, the panelists shared evidence of what works in prevention and response to violence in educational contexts. The participant panelists included: Michael Lisman and Mar铆a Delfina Flores from USAID; Ligia Aguilar from the 探花精选; Hilda Rosales from Fundaci贸n para la Educaci贸n Integral Salvadore帽a (FEDISAL); German Moncada from Universidad Pedag贸gica Nacional Francisco Moraz谩n (UPNFM); and Santiago 脕vila from J贸venes contra la Violencia Honduras (JCV HND).
The RETO team analyzed more than 80,000 studies in English, Spanish and Portuguese to identify gaps, opportunities, and to identify what works to prevent or respond to violence in educational contexts. The results were compiled into evidence syntheses that clearly indicate where there is strong evidence for certain interventions to effectively prevent or respond to violence in educational contexts. The types of interventions with the strongest evidence encompass:
- Children, adolescents and young people are those who suffer the most from violence, but they are usually excluded in the processes of formulating proposals to prevent it.
- Programs for fathers, mothers and guardians tend to have positive results when the participation of men is also guaranteed, have content focused on addressing the norms that support violence against adolescents and expand the debate and deliberation around social norms.
- Socioemotional learning interventions in schools have positive results, but optimal conditions need to be created so that they can be implemented in the three countries.
- Although key actors such as ministries of education recognize the relevance of using evidence on the role of education for the prevention of violence, there are barriers such as the level of understanding and its relationship with educational priorities at the local level or its practical application.
- There is solid and quality evidence (although limited) on the effectiveness of interventions with adolescents and young people, however, there are also significant gaps regarding programs focused on gender-based violence; the reduction of discriminatory and exclusionary practices towards the LGBTQ+ community; and work with migrants, refugees, indigenous peoples, and people of African descent.
- The application of evidence promoted by actors such as the World Bank, USAID and the IDB to inform educational policies for the prevention of violence and interventions (programs and projects) is still a challenge due to aspects such as difficult access to quality evidence with local focus and its availability in Spanish. Even if the evidence is available in Spanish, the language used can be complex.
RETO was implemented by the 探花精选 in cooperation with 12 national partners in Northern Central America to create demand for sustainable solutions for the prevention of violence affecting the youth through evidence-based policies and educational programs.
Additionally, RETO included the collaboration with 38 organizations from the educational, private, civil society, and youth sectors to gather findings. Furthermore, the project involved 485 young people in capacity-building programs for leadership and advocacy (based on available evidence) to promote their active participation as agents of change.