Honduras youth unemployment risks criminal recruitment

Honduran Youth Minister Cristian Midence has warned that a lack of employment and educational opportunities is leaving hundreds of thousands of young people vulnerable to recruitment by criminal organizations.

Of the approximately 3 million young people in Honduras—defined by national law as those aged 12 to 30—roughly 900,000 are currently neither working nor studying. To address this challenge, the Ministry of Youth and the Institute of Youth are implementing various employability and entrepreneurship programs, including job interview workshops, resume building, and entrepreneurship fairs.

The government is also promoting technical training and the creation of a National Volunteer Council to increase youth participation in productive life. Midence noted that inter-institutional efforts are underway with the secretariats of Education, Health, and Security to develop prevention mechanisms, including a heat map to identify areas with high concentrations of vulnerable youth.