Central America: HIV sustainability and human rights
We supported local leaders in the fight against HIV.
View the ProjectProtected Passage
We work together to protect girls.
With Protected Passage, you can help to protect adolescent girls and their families as they migrate or return home.
Poverty and violence continue to push more people in Central America to leave their homes every day. What’s more, the pandemic and resulting economic crisis have led to a drastic increase in food insecurity in the region.
Meanwhile, homicide rates in El Salvador and Honduras are among the highest in the world, and parts of Guatemala are equally violent. In Honduras and El Salvador, nearly one in 10 people report experiencing extortion annually, forced to pay gangs or criminal groups just to stay in their homes or run businesses. This climate is especially dangerous for girls and women, as gang culture endorses a “machismo” where girls are viewed as objects whose feelings (and lives) don’t matter.
But migrating carries its own set of risks. Along the way, it’s common for people to get mugged, kidnapped or worse. Even after they arrive at their destination, a new set of challenges awaits them. Asylum and other immigration processes can take months on top of what was an already long journey north. And it’s not always good news. Some families are forced to return home, where many are labeled as failures for not reaching their destination.
What are we doing?
The Protected Passage project is working with local partners in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico to holistically address the needs of girls and their families who are migrating or returning to their country of origin. Protected Passage represents a four-country response to the migration crisis, implemented by Plan International, ChildFund International and EDUCO.
From delivering critical provisions, like food and emergency kits, to facilitating psychosocial services and connecting families to other essential services, such as health care and legal aid, Protected Passage is supporting girls and their families at every stage of their migration journey. We also work with communities to help them understand the risks of unsafe migration, and to inspire community support and empathy for people who are migrating.
Join us in providing a lifeline for families affected by the migration crisis.
Project
impact
- 13,279
- emergency kits delivered.
- 2,345
- children and young people in Honduras connected with psychosocial care.
- 809
- young people in El Salvador learned about the risks of unsafe migration.
A student receives a back-to-school kit in El Salvador.
Two young leaders speak at “Migration has a girl’s and woman’s face” conference in Honduras.
A girl in Guatemala receives a clothing kit.
Girls draw during a psychosocial support workshop at a shelter in Mexico.
Our projects in Central America
Guatemala: Connection to Success
We work together to connect girls and young women to careers.
View the Project
El Salvador: Bridges to Employment project
We work to provide more opportunities for young people.
View the Project
El Salvador: Integrated health and education services for adolescents and youth
We support adolescent girls’ sexual and reproductive health.
View the ProjectYour gift to Plan International USA will be used where needed most, to help create sustainable change and address the root causes of poverty and inequality. Donations can support programs, innovation, and infrastructure required to deliver our programs to girls and children worldwide, in areas such as protection, education, health, sanitation, disaster relief and economic empowerment.