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A Voice For the Voiceless

The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.

The Impact of Service "Speaking with locals and living in a country is the best way to learn about the real lives of citizens, not just the stories in the mainstream media. I will be more critical of what I read as a result of this experience. I also feel even more grateful for my education, and I feel a stronger responsibility to assist others who do not have resources or access to opportunities in their communities." Maria Skouras (New York University) volunteered in 2011 as a Peace Fellow for eHomemakers in Malaysia. For more 2011 feedback click here.

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Children in Organized Armed Violence

Children in Organized Armed Violence (COAV), a subproject of Viva Rio, is based in Rio de Janeiro and works to spotlight the incidence of youth employed or participating in armed violence, particularly where there is a command structure and power over territory, local population or resources.

Examples of groups that involve children and youth in these conditions are: drug trade factions in territorial dispute (as in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), organized criminal gangs in general (drug and arms traffickers and kidnappers), structured and armed youth gangs (´maras´ and gangs in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala), armed ethnic groups, death squads and vigilante groups that execute criminals. The problem is also found in post-conflict regions where organized crime employs armed groups.

The main objectives of the COAV Project are to identify cases where children and youth are involved in armed groups in countries that are not at war, to produce and disseminate information on the problem, to educate the international community on the problem, and to share best practices and solutions.

• Topics: Child rights
• Area: Brazil
• Founded: 2002

• COAV coordinated a study titled "Neither War nor Peace" (available on COAV's website) that found that governments are encouraging the growth of organized armed groups – or gangs - by imprisoning and even executing their members, instead of helping young people to rise above the poverty and social disintegration that is pushing them to join gangs in the first place. The report is the first comparative study of children in organized armed violence outside of conflict zone.

• Press Releases

See the news section of COAV's website for the organization's press releases, interviews, and opinion pieces.

• Reports

COAV coordinated a study called "Neither War nor Peace," available on COAV's website.

• Photographs

COAV has a Photo section on their website.

• AdvocacyNet

June 14, 2005
Guns, Drugs, and “Zero Tolerance” Spur Organized Armed Violence by Children in 10 Countries, Warns New Study

May- June 2004
Viva Rio Investigates Children and Youth in Organized Armed Violence

• Blogs

In 2004, The Advocacy Project sent an intern, Alex Goldmark, to work with COAV. Read Alex’s blog.

Outreach Partners

• International Action Net on Small Arms

Contact:
Rua do Russel, 76 - Glória
Rio de Janeiro-RJ
CEP: 22210-010
Tel.: (0xx21) 2555-3750
Email Viva Rio-COAV

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