The humanitarian organization World Vision launched this past week a climate action initiative to “regreen” the Dry Corridor of Central America, with an investment of US$100 million, which will benefit 10 million people. The initiative, called “Greening the Central American Dry Corridor,“ will assist and build capacities to ensure “sustainable livelihoods” in the region while restoring natural resources, World Vision said in a statement.
Positively impact
The project aims to “positively impact” the lives of 10 million people in the Central American Dry Corridor, which crosses Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, where more than 60% of its 22 million inhabitants live “below the line of poverty”, he said. “We are trusting in God because this is a huge challenge that goes beyond our individual capacity and we want to show that together we can do more,” said World Vision director for El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, Jorge Galeano.
He called for “renewed support and collaboration from the private sector, cooperation agencies, academia, local and national governments, among others, to achieve this environmental and social structural change”. According to World Vision, extreme climatic variations, from prolonged droughts and excessive rainfall, have increased food insecurity “alarmingly”, which already affects more than 7 million people in the Dry Corridor. “The situation is made worse by persistently low agricultural yields, long dry seasons, forest fires, population density, migration and limited access to water resources”, he added.
The World Vision initiative requires at least US$100 million; therefore, it requires the contribution of partners and donors. “World Vision’s Dry Corridor Initiative aims to restore hope”, said the humanitarian organization’s director of global operations, Jean Baptiste Kamate.
Creating opportunities
He added that investing in the initiative “creates opportunities to transform the Dry Corridor into a Corridor of Hope and opportunities for every child and her family in Central America. We invite you to join us in mobilizing your experience, resources, talents. Together, we can combine our efforts to create a corridor of hope and opportunity for children and their families in Central America”, Kamate said.The initiative includes 3 lines of action: reduce the risks of natural disasters, guarantee access to water and sanitation, and food security.
