New Americas Society Policy Brief Highlights Private-Sector Strategies for Crime Reduction in Central America

Former gang members possess unique personal traits that can be applied to potential workplace success

New York, December 12, 2012 - A new policy brief on violence reduction in El Salvador released today by Americas Society found improvements in corporate productivity and local security when companies featured in the report offered jobs and training to former gang members.

The policy brief, titled Security in Central America’s Northern Triangle: Violence Reduction and the Role of the Private Sector in El Salvador, focuses explicitly on the role that firms—from small and medium-size enterprises to multinational corporations—play in forging an integrated approach to crime reduction. This is a little known field in Central America. While the policy brief analyzes reinsertion efforts and at-risk youth programs in the Salvadoran context, it also serves as a reference point for Honduras and Guatemala. These countries make up Central America’s Northern Triangle, a region confronted by a growing crisis in public security and that registers some of the world’s highest homicide rates.

“The private sector can clearly play an important role in improving security in the region, and this is best achieved through public-private collaboration,” said Americas Society and Council of the Americas President and CEO Susan Segal. “This policy brief brings concrete and positive ways forward to one of the most pressing issues in the region.”

Drawing examples from a larger sample of violence prevention efforts, the Americas Society policy brief highlights five cases—each focusing on either reinsertion of former gang members or preparation for at-risk youth to enter the labor force—that create safer communities and contribute to business bottom line. The local focus and direct or indirect cooperation with the public sector are critical to the success of programs implemented by featured companies such as Microsoft Corporation and The AES Corporation.

One of the companies, Grupo Calvo, employs 90 rehabilitated former gang members in its El Salvador plant—about 5 percent of its staff—and facilitates employment opportunities with suppliers for an additional 100 former gang members. These workers are some of the strongest and most productive employees at Grupo Calvo as well as at League Collegiate Wear, where 15 percent (40 employees) of its Salvadoran workforce has joined the company through its reinsertion program.

“Business interests and corporate social responsibility can clearly align when it comes to violence prevention; here, locally-focused efforts can achieve the greatest impact,” said Jason Marczak, AS/COA's director of policy.

The $2.5 billion cost of crime and violence in El Salvador represents a GDP loss of 10.8 percent. Improving security will boost economic productivity and growth: World Bank estimates suggest that a 10 percent drop in the homicide rate could lead to a 1 percent increase in annual per capita income growth.

While public safety is the responsibility of the state, a communitywide approach that includes the private sector can reduce crime and create the conditions that will propel economic growth and investment, according to the policy brief. The March 2012 gang truce in El Salvador offers a greater space to build on existing programs and establish new, cross-sectorial partnerships.

Five recommendations are issued:

1. The private and public sectors each bring unique ideas, resources and skills to violence prevention efforts and must find ways to coordinate these efforts, especially at the local level.
2. Corporate practices to improve security must be continuously catalogued and updated with a central repository and coordinating institution.
3. Private-sector violence prevention programs must be recognized both for their value in improving local communities as well the potential benefits they can bring to corporate bottom lines.
4. Reinsertion efforts and at-risk youth programs analyzed in the Salvadoran context should serve as examples—both the lessons learned and the overall strategies—for other Northern Triangle countries.
5. Regular dialogue between the public and private sectors is critical for identifying medium- to long-term violence prevention programs that will outlast the period in office of one particular official or political party.

Americas Society believes that the private sector is well-placed to be an important partner in improving public security. Private firms offer a neutral space, innovative ideas, financial and human resources, and the management capacity to move projects forward.  This report highlights corporate efforts in violence prevention so that policymakers, businesses leaders, and others concerned about improvements in security can learn from these initiatives and obtain a more nuanced grasp of the possible space that can be filled by the private sector.

To request a copy of the report or schedule an interview, contact Adriana La Rotta at alarotta@as-coa.org or (212) 277-8384.

Americas Society is the premier organization dedicated to education, debate and dialogue in the Americas. Established by David Rockefeller in 1965, our mission is to foster an understanding of the contemporary political, social and economic issues confronting Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada, and to increase public awareness and appreciation of the diverse cultural heritage of the Americas and the importance of the inter-American relationship.