Casa Alianza

Casa Alianza is an international non-profit organization and the Latin American branch of Covenant House. It is a charity and NGO whose aims are the rehabilitation and the defence of street children. It was first set up in Guatemala in 1981, then Honduras in 1987 and Mexico in 1988, then in Nicaragua in 1998. Casa Alianza provides a range of services from street outreach to legal aid services and care for over 12,000 children a year.

Casa Alianza was founded in Latin America in 1981 in response to the rampant human rights abuses taking place throughout the region. Casa Alianza was founded by the U.S.-based organization Covenant House, with the first site being founded in Guatemala. Covenant House proceeded to found Casa Alianza Honduras in 1987, Casa Alianza Mexico in 1988, and Casa Alianza Nicaragua in 1998 In addition to Casa Alianza's operations in direct support of children, the organization also has founded three separate fundraising and advocacy branches in Germany, the U.K. and Switzerland. The organization's international headquarters remains in New York City and is led by Kevin M. Ryan, the former commissioner of New Jersey's Department of Children and Families (see Kevin Ryan (commissioner)). Including the work of Casa Alianza, Covenant House now serves 71,000 children throughout the Americas each year. "Casa Alianza" is merely the Spanish translation of "Covenant House".

In 1996, Casa Alianza in Latin America received the Swedish Olof Palme Prize for an "outstanding achievement in the spirit of Olof Palme". The prize was conferred for the organization's "dedicated work to help street children in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico" and "for the courageous defence of the rights of these children" and was awarded by "Andrée Ruffo and Pierre Dionne, the President and Director General respectively".

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