TEGUCIGALPA, July 10 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — Honduras, with a homicide rate of 41.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, is at the top of Central America´s most dangerous nations list, according to a UN report.
Honduras is preceded by El Salvador only, with a rate of 62 murders, according to the World Study on Homicide-2019 published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), based on statistics taken up to 2017.
As for the study, Central America is, with a homicide rate of 25.9 per 100,000 inhabitants, the region with highest-level of violent deaths in the world due to drug trafficking murders and increased creation of gangs, among other determinants.
It also characterizes the phenomenon its ‘fluctuating, unpredictable and erratic’ nature, as stated by the document that places South America in second place with a rate of 24.2 and the Caribbean, with 15 percent, as third in the sub-region ranking.
Violence and insecurity are one of the main factors, as well as poverty, so thousands of citizens, mainly from the Northern Triangle region (El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala) emigrate each year to the United States.
This study ‘researches murders on the basis of gender, gang violence and other challenges, in order to support prevention and interventions aimed at reducing homicide rates,’ the UNODC Executive Director, Yury Fedotov, said.
‘Nations are committed to meeting the goals of the Sustainable Development Goals in order to scale down all forms of violence and mortality rates related to this crime by 2030. That is why, such a report provides important examples of effective community interventions that have helped to improve the affected areas,’ Yury stated. — NNN-PRENSA LATINA
