The Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act (SFOAA), 2022 (Div. K, P.L. 117-103) directed that $50 million be made available for a program in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, referred to as the Central America Youth Empowerment Program (CAYEP). The goal of CAYEP is to create measurable reductions in migration from targeted communities in such countries by recruiting young people to engage in community projects, while having secondary impacts by channeling additional income into local economies and providing needed skills training for future employment in local businesses. Funds made available to support CAYEP should be matched with contributions from private donors and local governments.
Since Vice President Harris announced the Central American Service Corps (CASC) at the Summit of the Americas in June 2022, USAID has continued to make significant progress on the design and implementation of the overall initiative.1 Programming under this initiative offers youth in areas of high out-migration in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras opportunities to work in their own communities on local priorities such as educational support and tutoring, food security, green jobs, health education and services, violence prevention, climate impact strategies, and other civic-engagement activities.
CASC/CAYEP programming is helping to address the drivers of irregular migration among those populations most likely to migrate by engaging youth in civic service opportunities, mentorships and internships, modest stipends, work and life skills acquisition, and enhancing young people’s sense of commitment to their communities.
