Vice President Kamala Harris will announce the Central American Service Corps (CASC), to which $30 million dollars to help young people in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Although the presidents and the president of those countries will not attend the Summit of the Americas, the vice president will formally launch the program, as part of the actions of the Government of the President Joe Biden to try to reduce irregular immigration.
The funds will be administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“It will provide the youth of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras with opportunities for paid community service, mentoring, and a path towards a future job,” said a senior official from the vice president’s office in a conference with journalists.
The objective of the program is to offer options to young people, so that they maintain their “sense of permanence”, in addition to the CASC seeking to generate leadership among young people in Central America.
“This initiative supports the US Strategy to address the fundamental causes of migration in northern Central America”, it was delimited .
There are several fronts that the program will cover, such as educational support and tutoring, climate action, food security, green jobs, education and health services, violence prevention and other participation activities civic, it was indicated.
“CASC will help address the drivers of irregular migration among those most likely to migrate by engaging youth in service opportunities,” the plan states.
In addition to offering paid opportunities, young people will be able to return part of these skills to their communities, collaborating with local development, it is intended.
“Educated, healthy, employed, and civically engaged youth are critical to driving economic growth, democracy, and prosperity”, justifies the plan.
CASC funds come from the Central America Youth Empowerment Program, which includes support from the public, private and philanthropic sectors.
The network of partners in the region will also be used to enrich the program, including countries such as Costa Rica, Paraguay and Peru.
Investments for women
Another of Vice President Harris’s projects, which she will announce in the framework of the Summit, is the new commitment of private sector companies and organizations to support the economic empowerment of women in northern Central America and the Western Hemisphere.
Groups and companies such as Accion, CARE International, Cargill, Mastercard, Microsoft and PepsiCo “made additional commitments to eliminate barriers to the full economic participation of women”, she indicated.
This will seek to strengthen women’s access to quality jobs, tools and resources, as well as networks for business development and growth.
The vice president, who will arrive in Los Angeles this Tuesday, will participate in economic meetings to advance with the plans in Central America .
When questioned about the absence of the presidents of Guatemala and El Salvador, as well as the president of Honduras, the senior official of the office of the vice president said that those nations will have representation.
“They are sending delegations, they have heard from the leaders of those countries and allowed them to speak for themselves… Some of them have said that they will not come, but they have also confirmed that they will send delegations so that we consider them participants in the summit”, justified the official, who maintained anonymity.
He added that the lack of presence of those leaders “does not undermine anything” in terms of the plans of the Biden administration in the region.
$1,900 additional millions
The private sector committed the investment of up to $3,200 million dollars in Central America, after the call of Vice President Harris. It is about $1,900 million additional to the investment plan.
“As part of her role in addressing the root causes of migration from Central America, in May 2021, the Vice President launched the Call to Action so that companies and social enterprises assume significant commitments to promote economic opportunities”, highlighted the authority.
The 10 companies and organizations : Agroamerica, COATL, Fundación Terra, Gap Inc., Millicom, Pantaleon, SanMar, Unifi, Visa and Yazaki join others 30 that are already making investments.