Can Businesses Curb Gang Violence?

WASHINGTON, D.C. – El Salvador managed to slash its homicide rate in half this year, but more needs to be done to ensure the drop is permanent, says the country’s minister of justice and public security.

Douglas Moreno made his remarks at a recent World Bank symposium entitled “Security in the Northern Triangle: The Private Sector’s Role in Violence Reduction.” The Northern Triangle refers to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, but the event – co-sponsored by the Americas Society/Council of the Americas – focused primarily on El Salvador, where gang violence is most severe.

It also coincided with AS-COA’s release of a study on violence reduction in El Salvador. The report found improvements in corporate productivity and local security when companies offered jobs and training to former gang members….

“The private sector can clearly play an important role in improving security in the region, and this is best achieved through public-private collaboration,” said the organization’s president and CEO, Susan Segal. “This policy brief brings concrete and positive ways forward to one of the most pressing issues in the region…”

Jason Maczak, senior editor of Americas Quarterly and moderator of the Washington event, said companies in Central America are beginning to realize that investing in at-risk youth and other programs to help disaffected and disenfranchised people can boost their bottom lines. These range from software giant Microsoft to energy conglomerate AES.

“This is about the effect the homicide rates have on business climate and investment in countries across the region,” Maczak said. “What is unique about each of these examples is that the programs have a corporate social responsibility component, but they also serve business interests. Serving business interests is possible if it is part of their core corporate model…”

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