Nicaragua
In Nicaragua, in the area around Estelí, girls and young women are particularly affected by physical, psychological and economic violence. Together our local partner organisation FUNARTE, we make young people’s voices heard by giving them better access to services and information in the areas of sexual health, violence prevention and psychosocial support.
Hear from the people on the ground
Damaris Valeria Martínez Arayo
14 years old
Access to healthcare is severely restricted in the region: only two of the five communities have health centres and they have limited capacity. Youth-friendly services for sexual and reproductive health and contraceptive methods are largely absent. Sexually transmitted diseases are a major risk. The macho culture promotes male dominance and violence, which leads to unstable relationships. Girls and young women are stigmatised in families, schools, churches and health centres, and face judgmental moralism.
The aim is to create a protective environment for young people in Estelí that reduces violence and early pregnancies and enables sustainable change.
In the last project phase, 2,000 young people and young adults benefitted from our work.
FUNARTE (Fundación de Apoyo al Arte Creador Infantil) is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation that has been active throughout the country since 1989. Our partner organisation’s team consists of psychologists, art therapists and social workers. terre des hommes schweiz has been supporting the work of FUNARTE since 2010.
Estelí is located in the north of Nicaragua and is the capital of the department of Estelí. The current project phase covers the years 2024–2026 with an annual budget of CHF 80,000.
terre des hommes schweiz
Kasernenhof 8
4058 Basel