MEXICO CITY, 21. december 2011. When the words “violence” and “Mexico” are mentioned, many people automatically link the two with drug trafficking, the World Bank writes in a feature story.

But contrary to popular belief, organized crime and drug trafficking (kidnappings, extortion and homicides committed by hired assassins) are not the only source of violence in Mexico. Crimes committed by youth are the most frequent form of violence and the main factor eroding the fabric of Mexican society. For this reason, efforts should focus not only on fighting drug trafficking but also on preventing this type of violence, which threatens the development of Mexican families and communities.

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), in Mexico, homicide is the second-leading cause of death among young men ages 15 to 19 (13.2% of deaths), after traffic accidents, which account for 18.3%. According to a report conducted by the Citizen’s Institute for Insecurity Research, four of every 10 homicides are committed by youth ages 18 to 25. Many of these acts of violence are bred in environments of social inequality, broken families and a lack of education and employment opportunities for youth.

Dialog vejen frem ifølge Verdensbanken og regeringen

To address this problem, the World Bank, through a donation from the Nordic Trust Fund, will support the Mexican government in establishing a national mechanism for dialogue on youth and violence policies from a human rights perspective. According to the World Bank, the goal of this dialogue is to involve civil society in developing national policies that provide youth with tools to prevent violence in their communities.

In the framework of this initiative, the first dialogue sessions took place on November 3-4, 2011. With support from the Civic Collaboration Center, youth ages 20 to 35, mostly representatives of civil society organizations, presented their ideas for creating better opportunities and promoting peace. Over 80 local government representatives from seven Mexican states also participated in the discussion.

Young people were asked: “What does violence mean to me?" "How is violence related to youth?”and “In your opinion, what causes these acts of violence?” These youth offered solutions and informed participants on the violence prevention projects they implement.

“The issue of public safety and violence prevention has become a top priority for the institution in light of its major impact on development. Given the mandate to reduce poverty and promote development, it is something we cannot ignore,” said Lorena M. Cohan, a World Bank expert on social development and violence prevention.

Ongoing dialogue between the government and civil society can help to improve many problems that hinder Mexico’s development. To this end, one priority of the World Bank is to address the issue of youth violence and help determine how to more effectively invest in the development of prevention programs.

Regional forums for dialogue will be established and the conclusions of these will serve as input for the document “Guidelines for Public Policies for the Social Prevention of Youth Violence with Citizen Participation,” which the National Center for Crime Prevention and Citizen Participation will publish soon.