• 7.34 million people are food insecure according to OCHA
• Organizations will prioritize climate-smart agriculture and aid for vulnerable populations
• Joint actions will be focused on developing livelihoods and employment opportunities for youth and poor families
San Jose, 2 November 2021 (World Vision) – The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and World Vision, a humanitarian non-governmental organization, signed a technical cooperation agreement aimed at contributing to strengthening food security for the most vulnerable populations of the so-called Central American Dry Corridor.
33 million people in the subregion have been affected by extreme events brought about by climate change, unemployment and a lack of access to food, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (OCHA) humanitarian needs assessment. Of these, 8.3 million need urgent humanitarian aid across Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Extreme poverty in these communities is one of the main drivers of illegal immigration, both to the United States and to other Central American nations.
Faced with this reality, the signatory organizations have committed to working to create and promote livelihoods that will allow families to access food and to develop capacities at the community level to ensure food security for the most vulnerable populations, particularly through creating conditions of employability and digital technology use for young people.
“Here at World Vision, we are combining our 40-year presence in the region, a solid network of alliances with governments, civil society and community-based organizations, and our faith for child protection with the indisputable technical capacity of IICA to generate solutions from the perspective of climate-smart agriculture, developing livelihoods and generating employment opportunities”, stated Joao Diniz, Regional Leader of World Vision for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA, commented that for “work to have an impact and to produce concrete results, we need solid alliances”, and indicated that these partnerships “are what was missing to face and overcome the challenges imposed by the climate crisis, especially in an extremely vulnerable region that needs massive support to ensure a better future for hundreds of thousands of rural families”.
In total, 7.3 million people face difficulties accessing foods and ensuring a healthy, balanced diet due to persistent droughts or floods that destroy crops and upset the supply chains. For this reason, IICA and World Vision are joining forces within the framework of a cooperation agreement to provide aid to the most vulnerable communities of the Dry Corridor.
About World Vision
World Vision is a Christian development, humanitarian aid and advocacy organization. Since 1950, it has worked to fight poverty and achieve sustainable development among the most vulnerable communities, families and children. Every 60 seconds, we ensure a hungry child receives food and a family receives the tools to overcome poverty. World Vision is the largest NGO supplier of water in the world, reaching a new person every 10 seconds and three schools daily. With our global presence in almost 100 countries, we have the capacity to respond quickly to different emergencies, crises and disasters: in 2020, over 27 million people received aid as a result of 66 emergences in 48 countries. More information at www.worldvisionamericalatina.org
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
