Mesoamericans have a diverse history – they enjoy rich cultural traditions that vary from country to country. At the same time, according to many UN reports, Mesoamerica remains the region of the world with the greatest social inequities.

People in Mesoamerica suffer enormous social discrimination: more than 50% live below the poverty line. Women, Indigenous and Afro-descendants, together with people living in rural areas, are the most severely affected by extreme poverty.

To confront these challenges, and for development to be sustainable, we believe it must be owned, driven and led by local people. For this reason, we work in partnership with local grassroots organizations that have shown energy, creativity and a proven ability to address the needs of their communities.

Horizons provides these partner organizations with financial support and ongoing technical assistance aimed at increasing their institutional sustainability and their overall capacity to implement effective programming in the fight against poverty and social exclusion in the region.

We work with our Mesoamerican partners to support programs they develop. We understand our partners are the experts – they know how best to find solutions to the challenges they face. Though you’ll find many of our program themes cross borders, some countries have their own specific challenges. Because all our partners are community-based organizations, they can work from the ground-up to find solutions to those challenges locally, regionally and even nationally.