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Furthering democratic participation to prevent social violence in Guatemala

Eleven years after the signing of the Peace Accords that brought an end to 36 years of civil war in Guatemala, security is still a primary challenge for the consolidation of democratic principles and institutions.

UNDEF is supporting a project, implemented by the participating agencies of the UN system in Guatemala, - UNDP, UNAIDS, UNHCHR and UNICEF - which aims at strengthening the participatory process to further develop local synergies between communities and state authorities to address social violence.

This two year initiative is articulated on a threefold strategy which seeks to:

Enhance the dialogue between communities and state authorities, at the local level;

Strengthen the social fabric and networking activities between local communities and civil society organizations;

Support local polices of violence prevention.

Launched a year ago, the project has achieved significant progress regarding its main goals:

The creation of spaces of dialogue dedicated to enhancing the participatory process in three specific municipalities;

The reinforcement of the capacity of local communities through an educational and technical assistance program aimed at producing concrete recommendations in the field of democracy consolidation and violence prevention policies.

The first phase of activities focused on the setting up of the spaces of dialogue in the three municipalities selected for project implementation: La Democracia, Santa Lucią Cotzumalguapa and La Gomera.
Spaces of dialogue are designed to bring together a wide cross section of Guatemalan society.
For each of these Municipios, a preliminary report was produced based on surveys conducted within the communities compiling detailed information on:

the diverse forms of violence encountered locally,

the identification of the most exposed segments of society,

inventory of existing tools for preventive action.

Simultaneously, the state representatives' input has been sought through a series of political consultations. In each Municipio, an introductory seminar contributed to reinforce the political awareness of local authorities on participatory process to address social violence successfully.
Furthermore, partnerships with the local private sector, such as the sugar producers' association, were launched.

The purpose of the spaces of dialogue is to enhance democratic dialogue on violence prevention through a multidisciplinary approach including health protection and human rights defense and focusing on vulnerable groups of the society.
For each space of dialogue, a work plan has been defined and working groups have been created. Each plan consists of an educational program conducted under the responsibility of the UN agencies and a series of thematic meetings.
The main purpose of these activities is to facilitate the joint production of concrete recommendations aimed at consolidating the democratization process through social violence prevention.
Citizen participation is crucial to prevent and redress manifestations of violence. Community involvement is critical to identify local challenges and design the modalities of redressing action. Moreover, civil society participation in the process enhances the social commitment to State efforts.

Currently, the project is concentrating on finalizing the production of educational materials to support the training program.

 

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