Connections Matter in Mexico's Northern Border Region

In Monterrey, Mexico, deep economic and social gaps separate rich from poor, educated from uneducated, legal from illegal. In 2008, the city started experiencing violence related to turf battles between warring drug cartels. Drug use and high murder rates continue to steal the lives of youth, tempting those who lack the skills for traditional jobs into much higher-paying, high-risk careers of narcotics and crime.

To help young people withstand the pressure of crime and violence in cities near the United States-Mexico border, Cisco has partnered with World Learning and the United States Agency for International Development to provide information and communications technology (ICT) and entrepreneurship training at high schools. Cisco Networking Academy courses are offered as part of the program. In the first year, almost 500 students participated.

Students in Monterrey, Mexico celebrate completion of the Cisco Networking Academy IT Essentials course.

The ICT Networking and Entrepreneurship Skills Development Project is designed to foster stronger and more resilient communities, give at-risk youth access to safe spaces, and build the ICT and entrepreneurship skills base in the northern Mexican cities of Ciudad Juarez, Monterrey, and Tijuana.

Read more about this program in a blog from our partner World Learning on Huffington Post ImapctX.