Central America’s northern triangle countries – El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras – have long ranked among the world’s most violent. Yet there are also hopeful signs across Latin America, including Central America, of major improvements in safety and security. Reductions in lethal violence are a result of a combination of measures including more balanced approaches to policing and prevention. It is more important than ever to ensure that evidence of what works (and what does not) is circulated to political officials, business leaders and civil society groups.

To this end the Igarapé Institute hosted the Urban Security Exchangebetween 22 and 23 January in El Salvador. The two-day event was held in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the center for Inter-American Dialogue, Foropaz, and Fundaungo. The event assembled more than 170 senior representatives from government, business, civil society and the media from across Central America, South America and the US. It is part of a long-running series on citizen security launched by the Institute in 2014.

The Urban Security Exchange was designed to reinforce the benefits of violence prevention and stimulate new thinking in the region. A series of interactive panels honed in on innovations in policing, gender, youth, education, and psycho-social policy-making and programming. The event itself was covered extensively in national and international media, including by the Prensa Gráfica, FOCOS TV, MedioLleno, and television shows (e.g. see this interview with Igarapé researcher Renata Gianinni) and opinion editorials in Prensa Grafica, Revista Factum, and Americas Quarterly.

The Igarapé Institute was mentioned 270 times in media outlets around the world in January. Research and commentary by Institute researchers was featured by, among others,AFP, DW, Ensia,El Faro, Huffpost, ISTOÉ, O Globo, The Conversation, and The Washington Post.

Igarapé Institute researchers published 24 opinion articles in national and international media such as Folha de Sao Paulo, Los Angeles Times, Relief Web and the World Economic Forum. These include articles on Brazil’s drug policies in El País; the potential of global city networks to reshape global governance in Estadão; and the destabilizing effects of populism by Robert Muggah and Francis Fukuyama in The Globe and Mail.

The Igarapé Institute contributed to 2 new publications in January. Robert Muggah and Adriana Abdenur contributed to a new IPEA volume with their chapter – “Brasil e o Sistema das Nações Unidas: desafios e oportunidades na governança global”. Robert Muggah also served as a senior adviser to the World Economic Forum’s flagship publication – the 2018 Global Risks Report – launched in Davos.

Institute researchers participated in 6 conferences, meetings, and seminars in January. These include sessions on the peace process in Colombia, the Urban Security Forum in El Salvador, the future of citizen security in Mexico and others.

• On 19 February, the Igarapé Institute’s executive director, Ilona Szabó, will open a seminar “Brasil do Amanhã – Segurança Pública” at the Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro.
• On 20 February, Ilona will participate in the debate “Os Dilemas da Renovação Política“, together with ex-presidential candidate Eduardo Jorge (PV) and political scientist Pablo Ortellado (USP), at the FHC Foundation in São Paulo.
• From 20-21 February, Robert Muggah is a guest speaker at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington DC to discuss the dynamics of conflict and violence in Latin America.
• On 26 February, Robert Muggah is speaking at a major public event with Anne-Marie Slaughter, President and CEO of New America in Vancouver.
• On 12 March, Robert Muggah, will give the speech, “The Rise of Citizen Security in the Americas” at the University of Calgary (CAN).
• Between 13 and 15 March, Ilona Szabó will participate in the World Economic Forum on Latin America in Sao Paulo.
• On March 22 Robert Muggah is giving a keynote speech on the future of urban development to more than 3,000 guests at the Foundation of the Carolinas in Charlotte, USA.