Appendix III Group 1: Project Profiles Project 1.1 Women's
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Guatemala Mission Report Appendix III Group 1: Project Profiles Group 1 visited the western highlands of the country in Huehuetenango, Solola and Chimaltenango provinces Project 1.1 Women’s Leather Production Association Project 1.2 Meeting with the Mayor, Municipal Officials, and NGOs of Chiantla Project 1.3 Justice Center Project in Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango Project 1.4 Women’s Forum - Post-Conflict Democratisation Project Project 1.5 CARE’s Civil Society Project Project 1.6 Meeting with the Mayor, Municipal Officials, and NGOs of Cuilco, Guatemala Project 1.7 Defensoria Maya - an Indigenous Peacebuilding Process Project 1.8 JICA Girls Education Project Project 1.1: Women’s Leather Production Association Date: March 1, 2001 Place: Chiantla, Huehuetenango Implementing Institution: CECI (through its Democratic Development Fund (DDF) Project) and K’aslemal (a local NGO that is being supported by CECI via the DDF). Key Participants Met: Several members of the Women’s Leather Production Association and the Head of K’aslemal. Previous meetings with Lucrecia Arriola de Paniagua, the Coordinator for CECI’s DDF. Objective: The objective of CECI’s DDF is to provide technical and financial assistance to Guatemalan partners dedicated to improving human rights and the rule of law, establishing an effective system of justice, promoting respect for the identity and rights of indigenous peoples, and strengthening civil society and participatory democracy. Description: In this particular case, the Women’s Leather Production Association is supported by K’aslemal. The latter is a local NGO that receives assistance from CECI’s DDF. The DDF, through K’aslemal provides mentoring support, confidence building and small amount of start- up funds to the Women’s Association. The Association, which has approximately a dozen female members (as well as some male laborers) dries and cures leather that is sold on the local market. Findings & Observations: o There is no question that the women, with the help of the DDF project, have built something of which they are very proud. The women’s membership in the Association has apparently improved the confidence of the members and has helped them realize that they do have the skills and ability to create change and improve their standard of living, both economically and also socially. The project is a visible indicator that people, and women in particular, are able to create social change and affect their communities in positive ways. o Because the DDF project also requires that groups that receive support also contribute to their community with some type of community development initiative, attention is focused on the efforts of people making change (in this case the women implemented a road improvement project). This provides a good example to others, in terms of both encouraging community improvement work as well as inciting people to help themselves. o The DDF project, through its partnership with K’aslemal, also included a gender awareness component in its efforts with this Women’s Association. This helped men to understand the changing role of women in society and the value of women’s participation. All of the members reported that their husbands had no problem with them running a business. In fact, all agreed that their husbands were supportive and appreciated the fact that their wives were financially contributing to the household. 2 Guatemala Mission Report o It appeared that one of the reasons that this leather production initiative was successful was that it was founded on an indigenous tradition that is relatively well-known. One might argue that this could lead to an over-abundance of leather on the market. This was not so in this case. The women were able to target and revive a traditional but apparently dwindling, cottage industry. Helpful in the process was the fact that the father of one of the members was skilled in this trade and was able to technically guide and direct the Association. Project 1.2: Meeting with the Mayor, Municipal Officials, and NGOs of Chiantla Date: March 1, 2001 Place: Chiantla, Huehuetenango. Implementing Institution: CECI Major Participants Met: The Mayor, Municipal Officials and NGOs of Chiantla, Japanese and Canadian Government Officials and NGOs. Objective: To study and analyze 1) how effectively the local government of Chiantla responds to and meets various kinds of community needs, 2) what sort of mechanism the local government has to grasp the needs of the society, and 3) how CECI facilitates community members participation in the policy making process of Chiantla. Description: Local NGOs participate in the decision making process of the local government of Chiantla. The municipal office of Chiantla has a sub-group in each sector such as education, health, commerce and socio-economic infrastructure, and concerned local NGOs participate in one or more of these sub-groups. The local NGOs visit many communities in order to analyze issues and study concrete needs in each of these communities. Then, they provide feedback to the local government. Besides the visits to the community, the local NGOs also participate in the planning and design of overall and sectoral development policies. The Mayor’s office provides coordination and determines priorities based on discussions with the local NGOs. As the result of this policy planning process, it has been agreed between the local government and civil society of Chiantla that health and education are current priority areas. Findings and Observation: o It is a new and fascinating approach for CECI to focus on partnership between NGOs and the local government of Chiantla. Usually, projects aiming to strengthen civil societies at the grassroots level tend to just focus on organization building of NGOs or other community groups without considering the possibility of teaming-up with the public sector. However, CECI’s successful coordination between the municipal government and the NGOs of Chiantla allows not only CECI’s own projects to be more effective, but also the community as a whole to play a more participatory role in the process of community development. 3 o It is particularly impressive that women actively get involved in NGO activities and that women’s groups fully participate in the policy making process for community development. Specifically, women conduct surveys of community needs and participate in various sectoral meetings. o As the result of this participatory policy planning process, health and education have been identified as high priorities in community development policies. Project 1.3: Justice Center Project in Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango Date: March 2nd, 2001 Place: Santa Eulalia Implementing Institution: The United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) Key Participants Met: Gilberto Lopez; Sonia Martinez; José Antonio; and John Pauly, MINUGUA Objective: To support the establishment of a local justice centre in an ex-conflict zone. Description: The project aimed at strengthening the Justice Sector Institutions comprising the Justice Centre (the Judiciary, the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Public Defence Institute and the National Civilian Police) so that they might administer justice to the population in a co-ordinated, effective and a non-discriminatory manner, in locally spoken languages and congruent with the socio-cultural values of the zone. Special mention should be made of the 'mediation' activity where cases can be brought without having to enter the official justice system. Findings & Observations: o According to two (2) different sources on different days and locations, the subject Project has managed to reduce the number of 'lynchings' from an estimated 11 per year to between 3 and 4. The key point to recognize here is the estimated reduction and not the actual number. Santa Eulalia is the second pilot centre - i.e. built on the lessons and successes of the first. o Out of an average of three (3) cases per day, approximately 80% are resolved through mediation. Prior to the Project many of the disputes would have made their way into the official justice system, resulting in extra costs for all parties. In addition, the results were frequently unsatisfactory, which in turn often resulted in 'violence'. o It would seem that a key to the success of the Project was/is its ability to provide legal services and address the justice needs of the local population in their own indigenous language(s). 4 Guatemala Mission Report o During the general presentation in the pre-departure briefing in Guatemala City, it was mentioned that one of the main challenges facing this Project was the difficulty in attracting qualified lawyers and judges to such a remote region as Santa Eulalia. Although this type of challenge might be common among the projects in outlying areas, having visited Santa Eulalia, we better understood and appreciated the problem. Project 1.4: Women’s Forum - Post-Conflict Democratisation Project Date: March 3, 2001 Place: San Ildefonso Ixtahuacan (Department of Huehuetenango) Implementing Institution: CARE UK Key Participants Met: Dora Arriola, CARE, Telma Perez, CARE, Four representatives of the Women’s Forum. Objective: The objective of the Women’s Forum is to promote the greater participation of women in the post-conflict democratization processes and structures in Guatemala. Description: In order to achieve the above stated objective, the Women’s Forum dedicates itself to a number of activities including: (1) assisting women to obtain their basic legal documents (thereby enabling them to participate in the electoral process); and (2) through a series of workshops, informing women in the local area of their rights and the importance of greater participation in the post-conflict democratization process in Guatemala. The Women’s Forum also participates in the National Women’s Forum and thereby has succeeded in participating in the civil society-government dialogue regarding the implementation of the Peace Accords. Findings & Observations: o As a result of the efforts of the Women’s Forum, thousands of Guatemalan women in the department of Huehuetenango were able to obtain their legal documents and thereby participate in local elections.