Culture of Lawfulness, Rule of Law and Civic Education

Trust Ethics programs work with parents, children and the communities that surround them to promote a culture of lawfulness and combat the growing threat of crime and corruption across Latin America. Children and young people need the opportunity to make safe, healthy and responsible decisions as they mature. The community immediately surrounding them, their schools, parents and extended family, play a central role in shaping the way they will manage and make decisions in life.

Projects:

Colombia

Children’s Civic Education Program "Plan V"

This project, ongoing since 2003, actively promotes civic responsibility, ethics, tolerance, and negotiation skills among at risk youth and young children. The project involves a media campaign in conjunction with person-to-person workshops and after school activities that bring parents, teachers and children together in a safe environment where they can talk about real ways to combat corruption and crime in their communities. The program is supported by the Director of the Anti-Corruption Office of the Colombian government and in 2005 a substantial drug prevention component was added to the program.

Colombia

Yo Elijo

Drug use prevention and the promotion of a culture of lawfulness

and ethics among the coming generation in Colombia

As with anti-corruption programs, early intervention and education on issues related to crime and drug use prevention is critical as Colombia continues its struggle against narco-trafficking.  The YO ELIJO (“I Choose”) program works to prevent adolescent substance abuse by reaching children before they are likely to have experimented with drugs. Through workshops and other interactive modules, teachers and parents are equipped with a variety of prevention-infused lesson plans and effective teaching strategies that allow them to guide children and pre-teens in making the right choices with regard to drug use in particular and illicit activity more generally.    

Guatemala

Mi Zona
Promoting Ethics and Values in Guatemala to Populations exposed to Gang Activities

Mi Zona targets children between the ages of six and fourteen, when they are most receptive to anti-corruption, anti–gang and drug prevention education and before they are likely to have been tempted to engage in criminal activities. The program seeks to provide young people with tools to manage situations they can expect to face involving corruption, crime, drugs and gangs and be able to safely and effectively say “no”. The Trust uses a participative approach that involves student, teacher and parents in after school activities and open discussions about risk-taking behavior.