Denis Martinez

Working from Guatemala, Denis is coordinating research activities across El Salvador, Honduras and Guatamala aimed at understanding and preventing youth violence. The programme, known as POLJUVE, or Public Policies for the Prevention of Youth Violence, is an umbrella programme that provides support to local organizations in these countries that  want to strengthen civil society’s capacity to confront this issue.

Denis shared his views with us on youth violence and his hopes for a brighter future.

We’ve asked all of our peacebuilders the same questions – what does peace mean to you?

A formal definition might talk about the absence of dissension, war and violence. But for me peace means much more, it means social justice, equality and a balance in the power relations within society.

What do you see as your greatest challenge in the POLJUVE programme?

I think the hardest thing is to get society and governments to understand the root causes of youth violence. So far, governments have been responding with a very strong enforcement and policing strategy, often resorting to violence and extrajudicial actions. In my view this misses the whole point. We should be focused on a prevention strategy as the root causes of this violence is a lack of education and overwhelming poverty. This is not a security problem, it’s a social problem.

What do you think others should take away from this programme?

Educating and caring for our youth is everyone’s responsibility. Youth gangs and the violence they create are merely a manifestation of other problems, of inequality, of poverty, of a highly marginalized and vitally important part of society.

How do you measure success?

It’s in the little things. It’s inspiring to see people’s interest grow in what we have to say and the results of our research. I think society is coming around to the view that this is a social problem rather than a security problem. After all, security measures have not done much to stem the violence. The bottom line is that poverty and insecurity affect everyone, not just the marginalized sectors of society where it originates.

What aspect of this programme do you think would be most useful in other countries?

We need to include youth in the democratic process, we need to give them a voice and the real possibility to help build a better society. In many countries around the world, youth make up a sizable proportion of the population. Trying to rebuild and heal the wounds of violence without the participation and support of youth is a futile process.