NGOs specialized in working with children and/or youth are few in number, and are relatively newer than rural development NGOs. At present, problems related to poverty and marginality are so serious in Oaxaca that the specific needs of children and youth are priorities for newer NGOs. The programs of NGOs that work with youth tend to be associated with the church, are mainly local initiatives, and are more influenced by experiences and methodologies from other countries than the NGOs that do not work with children and youth. Finally, there are few networks or opportunities for reflection that bring together NGOs that work with children and youth.

• The church has activities and programs for children and youth in a great many localities of Oaxaca. It has created rural schools, orphanages and homes for children in difficult situations. In addition, through teaching catechism it forms youth groups that work for the betterment of their communities. Some organizations have been moving away from just evangelizing or offering welfare-type assistance, instead, seeing their work with children and youth in a less charitable and more integral light. CENTEOTL, A.C. in Zimatlán and the Centro Cultural Mixe, A.C. in Tontontepec are two examples of such NGOs.

• Various centers have cropped up in the cities to address the needs of children and youth in difficult situations. The creation of these private, non-profit centers generally reflects the lack of government services. Such centers are practically non-existent in rural areas. The city of Oaxaca is home to the Centro Acéptame como Soy (Accept Me as I am Center), created by parents of children with problems; Puerto Angel has the Centro de Atención Infantil Piña Palmera, A.C. (for disabled children), and also in the city of Oaxaca is the Centro de Atención de Niños de la Calle, C.A. (Center for the Attention of Street Children) (CANICA), which works with street children.

• Another category of NGOs promotes models for working with children and youth adapted from successful experiences elsewhere in Mexico and abroad. These organizations have well-developed methodological approaches to working with children and youth, since they are based on experiences that have already been fully analyzed. In general, such organizations have more participants and larger programs. This category of NGO includes CANICA (adapting a model from Puebla), Futuro para la Niñez, A.C. (based on experiences in the United States and Central America), and the Programa Niño a Niño de Oaxaca, which operates in several parts of Mexico and more than 60 countries.