Executive summary
The Northern Triangle of Central America (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador) faces a humanitarian and protection crisis due to the ongoing violence perpetrated by armed criminal groups. Murder, injury, sexual abuse, kidnap, enforced disappearance, human trafficking, extortion, child recruitment, forced displacement are part of this crisis (IDMC, 2015). The homicide rate (per 100.000 inhabitants) in the TNCA is among the highest in the world. In 2015, the homicide rate in Honduras stood at 60 per 100.000 inhabitants, in El Salvador 103 and in Guatemala 30 (UNODC, 2015). These criminal groups also use violence to control territory over drugs and armed trafficking (ACAPS, 2014). México follows the same pattern where drug cartels are the main source of NCV. Their enemies are no longer the only victims but also the general population. Mexico is also a transit country for asylum seeker and immigrants from the Northern Triangle of Central America to the United States.
In January 2015, the Regional Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA ROLAC), in order to have a better understanding of this crisis and to create a common space for discussion, appointed the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum (CPPF) to prepare a study about the humanitarian implications of non-conventional violence (NCV). In April 2016 in Panamá City, the results were discussed in a workshop with 15 organizations working in the Northern Triangle.
**Methodology This study provides recommendations and some elements of analysis to help the decision making in relation to humanitarian response. The study is based on literature review and a survey sent to more than 80 organizations working in the Northern Triangle and Mexico. The participants were among UN agencies, international NGOs and civil society organizations where 70 replied the questioner partially and 21 completed it in full.
Main results
The results focused on three groups: vulnerable groups; needs and access; and gaps and challenges. The main findings for each group were:
Vulnerable groups
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Insecurity and violence is one of the main reasons to increase vulnerability in the population.
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Migrants and IDPs were victims of threats and extortion which they considered as one of the main crimes they have been through.
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Women, LGBTI persons and ethnic minorities tend to be victims of sexual violence.
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Children and youth between 12 and 19 years old are the main victims of territorial control.
Needs and Access
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Protection was highlighted as the main humanitarian need in all groups, except for migrants, women and children where health is a priority.
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Humanitarian actors, who participated in the survey, pointed insecurity, criminality and illegality as the main challenge for humanitarian access and provision of assistance.
Gaps and Challenges
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Few programmes are designed specifically to response to NCV impacts. It was stressed that violence must be included as a common crosscutting element in plans and programmes in this region.
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Understanding of the humanitarian impacts of violence is limited. There is not an articulated information system to evaluate the extent of violence. Crimes used as indicators of NCV are often underreported. Furthermore, it is difficult to distinguish NCV incidents from other types of violence, for example intrafamilial violence.
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Few humanitarian actors are working in protection. In this region the priority is given to other needs, such as assistance during natural disasters, public health emergencies and human development.
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Several interviewees highlighted allocating funds for protection is difficult due to the invisibility of violence in the international agenda, which is heightened by the limited information available.
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Protection is implemented in a dispersed manner, making coordination difficult at national and regional level. Participants also pointed out there are different perceptions of the impacts and how to implement protection programmes
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There is not a clear understanding on how to improve humanitarian access to communities in a context of NCV.
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Participants stressed that NCV is not a priority for the international community and high profile crises such as in Syria and the flow of refugees to Europe overshadow the situation in the region.
Recommendations
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Improve systematic data collection to have a clear understanding of who is at risk from what or whom and what are their protection needs.
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Establish spaces for coordination and communication focused particularly on protection for sharing best practices, lessons learned, experiences and challenges.
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Identify legal instruments to justify interventions to establish interlocutors and other actors to cooperate with.
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Build links and common spaces between humanitarian and development actors. When affected persons meet their humanitarian needs and risk has been reduced, they are still vulnerable to be victimized again thus development programmes should be implemented.
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Build on comparative advantages of local organizations (academia, civil society, etc.), their familiarity with the country context and links with local communities. According to the survey, coordination with these organizations is essential to work with the existing capacities in the field and at the same try to reinforce them instead of replacing them.
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Develop humanitarian programmes focused on the needs whose rights have been violated. Therefore, it is imperative to consult affected persons to understand, from their perspective, which are their most urgent needs.
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Elaborate practical guidelines and protocols to manage and improve humanitarian access to populations at risk.
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Support initiatives to increase resilience, social cohesion and conflict management at local level with the aim of developing capacities to negotiate and persuade armed actors not to use violence and to create peace zones.
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Prepare key messages among humanitarian actors to be taken to their headquarters, donors, governments and international organizations to raise awareness and funds for protection programmes.
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Encourage governments to manage this crisis not only from a security approach, but also from a humanitarian and human rights perspective.
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Develop accountability mechanisms for the governments regarding protection of vulnerable populations and offer assistance when requested.