Luta pela Paz

Rio de Janeiro reflects some of Brazil’s starkest inequalities: despite sustained economic growth at the national level, favelas such as Complexo da Maré experience extreme poverty, violence, and high levels of unemployment. In 2000, Luta Pela Paz was established in Maré as a community outreach center and martial arts academy designed to prevent child and youth participation in crime and violence, and to give young people already involved in the drug trade a way out.

EMpower’s fifth grant to Luta Pela Paz  supports the strengthening and expansion of an initiative to equip particularly at-risk youth with the skills to pursue sustainable livelihoods outside the drug trade and/or organized crime through a combination of educational equivalency courses, tutoring, job-readiness training, mentorship, life skills development, and links to the job market.

Brazil
Contact: Luke Dowdney
Contact Email: luke@fightforpeace.net
Website: fightforpeace.net
Year Established: 2000