Honduras

The people of Honduras experience high levels of violent crime. Much of the population lives in poverty due to poor access to education and high unemployment, but drug trafficking and gang-related violence are key contributing factors too.

According to the National Violence Observatory in Honduras, 70 per cent of the homicides reported in 2018 were committed with a handgun. Unfortunately, illegal firearms are easily available and anyone over the age of 21 is legally permitted to own a gun.

Added to this, thousands of guns are held under police and military custody in weapons stores across the country. Due to ever-increasing numbers, some of these weapons stores are at full capacity, making them difficult to manage and vulnerable to loss.

HALO, with the support of the United States Government, is working with the Honduran Public Ministry and National Police to create a safer future for the people of Honduras. Together, we are establishing a transparent weapons destruction program and assisting with upgrading weapons stores to ensure they are secure. To make the project sustainable, we are complementing these activities with a series of weapons storage and stockpile management training courses, ensuring the armed forces in Honduras have the skills to deal with the problem independently in the years to come.

Francy Bolaños is Project Officer in Honduras. With funding from the United States Government, she has been instrumental in setting up our programme, working with local authorities to destroy and manage weapons and ammunition and build a safer future for local people.

Our work in Honduras is funded by:

The Government of the United States