El Salvador: Youth Violence and Olympic Values
The Program on Conflict and Development (Program on Conflict and Development) studies how participating in sports can keep youth in El Salvador out of gangs.
The Olympic Values Study in El Salvador aims to research and evaluate the effects of the Olympic Values through Sports Program (OVTSP) on participating youth from 12 municipalities in El Salvador and to determine the program’s contribution to reducing gang involvement. The specific objectives of the study are to:
- identify the main problems concerning juvenile delinquency in the communities in which OVTSP will be conducted,
- determine whether OVTSP is effective in preventing youths from joining gangs, and
- determine if children and young adults’ lack of involvement in sports influences communities with higher violence rates.
The Olympic Committee in El Salvador is leading this effort. Over 5,000 kids and youth took part in the Olympic Sports program, thanks to the hard work of our implementing partners at the Olympic Committee and Program on Conflict and Development’s Regional Coordinator for Latin America, Johanna Roman.
