Honduras is one of the forty most violent countries in the world without being in an open conflict, points out Lidia Ramos, a technician for International Cooperation of the entity. She indicates that the Spanish Red Cross has been collaborating with the Honduran one for over 40 years, which allows them to understand the ground they are on.
She recalls that Honduras leads the list of countries with the highest adolescent fertility rate in Latin America and the Caribbean, something they link to «women and girls who have suffered community, school, or intra-family violence».
«The population of Castilla y León is solidary, and the truth is that although we may think that more is better, the regional government has a clear and powerful strategy in cooperation», she says.
In the department where this initiative is focused, they speak of an insecure climate with many «people in transit». Choloma – where numerous clothing maquilas are located – is «one of the most industrialized points between Puerto Cortés and San Pedro Sula», which makes it a «place of interest» for drug trafficking and criminal groups.
This context causes «many invisible borders», she develops, explaining that even if one lives a block away from a health center, it is not always considered a «safe place», and the population «does not attend or attends but does not openly expose their problem for fear».
Lidia Ramos highlights the importance of initiatives like this, which conquer rights where the differences are abysmal: «Protection is key to saving lives», she insists.
«We work a lot on humanitarian diplomacy so that what we do is understood, especially now that some countries are cutting aid and closing agencies», she affirms, and makes a final grateful note.
Therefore, what the Red Cross intends to do in Choloma is to complement the Honduran health services and «reinforce» the existing ones, with particular attention to cases of gender-based or sexual violence (affective health, LGBTI+ collective…).
The expert also points to a special need to assist women, as «structural gender inequality makes it very difficult to identify and combat it».
The Red Cross is in charge of one of the ten micro-projects now subsidized: a little over 41,000 euros will back an initiative that addresses the comprehensive health of the inhabitants of Choloma, in Cortés.