Humanitarian Implementation Plan (HIP) Central America / Mexico

During the last years, the rapid expansion of non-political organized armed actors such as drug cartels, street gangs (maras 1) and organized crime groups has increased the level and intensity of violence in the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA - covering Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador) and Mexico. The humanitarian consequences of this phenomenon are comparable to the ones experienced during the civil wars that plagued the region at the end of the 20th century. These organised armed actors are involved in all sorts of lucrative illegal economic activities, including drug trafficking, prostitution, robbery, extortion, human trafficking, money laundering, coercion and arms trafficking. They regularly resort to war-like activities, including mass murder and summary executions, forced recruitment of children, kidnapping, extortion, often in a context of corruption and impunity, deepening inequalities and abject poverty. Death rates have globally skyrocketed in the last five years, reflecting a very bleak reality for civilian populations caught in the cross fire between these organized parties which violently fight each other while also opposing security forces. Although the countries in the region are technically at peace, the effects and humanitarian consequences of the levels of organised violence are similar to those occurring in officially recognized armed conflicts: the number of killed and wounded, displaced populations and refugee claims in neighbouring countries, humanitarian access issues, forced recruitment of children, use of sexual violence as a war weapon, and devastating psychological impact. All basic human rights are constantly violated. This form of organized violence, usually labeled "Other Situations of Violence (OSV)" covers a variety of conflict-like situations, which are often more brutal to the civilian population than many classical wars. This new violence differs from the classical armed conflicts in that there are not two clear contenders with political aims, respecting certain basic rules in fighting each other over the conquest of territory.