“Humanitarian diplomacy is essential, and even more so now that some countries are reducing their cooperation”

Red Cross is in charge of one of the ten micro-projects now subsidized: a little over 41,000 euros will support an initiative that meets the overall health of the inhabitants of Choloma, in Cortés. “Honduras It is one of the forty most violent countries … of the world without having open conflict”, says Lidia Ramos, international cooperation technician of the entity, who indicates that the Spanish Red Cross has been collaborating with the Honduran Red Cross for more than 40 years, which allows them to understand the terrain on which they walk. In the department on which this initiative focuses, there is talk of a dangerous climate with many “people in transit” in which Choloma – where many clothing production maquilas are located – is “one of the most industrialized points between Puerto Cortés and San Pedro Sula”, making it “place of interest” for drug trafficking and criminal groups.

This context causes “many invisible borders”is growing, to ensure that even if you live a block from a health center, it is not always considered a “safe place” and the population “He doesn’t come or he comes but doesn’t openly expose his problem out of fear.” For this reason, what the Red Cross intends in Choloma is to complement Honduran health services and “strengthen” what exists with particular attention to cases of gender or sexual violence (emotional health, LGTBI+ group, etc.)

The expert also highlights the particular need to help women, because “structural inequality between the sexes makes it very difficult to identify and combat.” Recall that Honduras tops the list of countries with the highest adolescent fertility rate in Latin America and the Caribbean, a phenomenon that they associate with “women and girls who have suffered community violence, at school or within the family.”

Ramos therefore emphasizes the importance of initiatives like this, which win rights where the differences are appalling: “Protecting is the key to saving lives,” he emphasizes. “We work a lot on humanitarian diplomacy so that what we do is understood, and even more so now that some countries are cutting aid and closing their agencies,” he says, and he sends a final note of gratitude. “The population of Castilla y León supports us and the truth is that, although we believe that the more the better, the Commission has a clear and powerful cooperation strategy.”

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