QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2018 Q1: OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2017 Cooperative Agreement No AID-596-A-16-00001 Reporting Period: October 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017 Submission Date: January 30, 2018 Pan American Development Foundation 1889 F St NW, Washington, DC 20006 Tel 202.458.3969 www.padf.org List of Acronyms AI Amnesty International ARENA Alianza Republicana Nacionalista ASPIDH Asociación Solidaria Para Impulsar el Desarrollo Humano ASPARLEXSAL Junta Directiva de la Asociación de Parlamentarias y ex Parlamentarias Salvadoreñas CCPPDH Consejo Centroamericano de Procuradoras y Procuradores de Derechos Humanos de Centroamérica CEAV Comisión Ejecutiva de Atención a Víctimas CEJIL Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho International (International Law and Justice Center) CIPPDV Comisión Interinstitucional para la Protección de Personas Desplazadas por Violencia CICIG Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala CIPRODEH Centro de Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos CMDPDH Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos CNDH Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos COAMEX Coalición México por los Derechos de las personas con discapacidad CONADEH Comisionado Nacional de los Derechos Humanos de Honduras CONAPID Consejo Nacional de Atención Integral a la Persona con CONAPO Consejo Nacional de Población CONNA Consejo Nacional de la Niñez y de la Adolescencia CSO Civil Society Organization EIP Political Advocacy School/ Escuela Internacional de Protocolo ENIA Encuesta Nacional para el Informe Alternativo ENVIPE La Encuesta Nacional de Victimización y Percepción sobre Seguridad Pública FESPAD Fundación de Estudios para la Aplicación de Derecho FSLN Sandinista National Liberation Front FMELGBT Federación Mexicana de Empresarios LGTBI FMLN Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front GMIES Grupo de Monitoreo Independiente de El Salvador IACHR/CIDH Inter-American Commission on Human Rights/Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos IDHUCA Instituto de Derechos Humanos de la UCA IIDH/IIHR Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos/ Inter-American Institute for Human Rights INEGI Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía ISNA Instituto Salvadoreño para el Desarrollo Integral de la Niños y la Adolescencia IUDOP Instituto de Opinión Pública de la UCA LEPP Ley Electoral de Partidos Políticos LGBTI Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual or Intersex MACCIH Misión de Apoyo contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad en Honduras M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MoU Memorandum of Understanding ND University of Notre Dame NDI National Democratic Institute NGO Non-Governmental Organization OAS/OEA Organization of American States/Organización de Estados Americanos OEI Organization of Iber-American States for Education, Science and Culture ONNAS Organization for Children and Adolescentes PADF Pan American Development Foundation PARLACEN Parlamento Centroamericano PDDH Procuraduría para la Defensa de Derechos Humanos RIA Red de Infancia y Adolescencia RFA Request for Applications SIA Segundo Informe Alternativo (Mexico) SIDH Sistema Interamericano de Derechos Humanos/InterAmerican System of Human Rights SOMOS/CDC Centro para el Desarrollo y la Cooperación LGBTI SST Self-Assessment Security Tool for Organizations TSE Tribunal Supremo Electoral/Supreme Electoral Council UCA Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas UDEFEGUA La Unidad de Protección a Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos, Guatemala UNAH Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras UNITEC La Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana UNICEF Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia/United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund USAID United States Agency for International Development USG United States Government UTE Unidad Técnica Ejecutiva del Sector de Justicia de El Salvador Table of Contents Executive Summary ________________________________________________________ 3 Resumen Ejecutivo _________________________________________________________ 8 Program Activities and Progress _____________________________________________ 13 Objective 1: Improved Enabling Environments for Prevention of Human Rights Violations _______________________________________________________________________ 14 Objective 2: Strengthened Responsive Actions to Address Human Rights Violations ____ 19 Objective 3: Sustainable Early Warning and Protection Systems for Internally Displaced Persons and Migrants in Place ______________________________________________ 26 Challenges and Lessons Learned _____________________________________________ 28 Performance Indicators ____________________________________________________ 32 Training Events ___________________________________________________________ 39 Planned Activities _________________________________________________________ 43 Gender and Vulnerable Populations __________________________________________ 48 Coordination and Collaboration _____________________________________________ 49 Annexes _________________________________________________________________ 51 Annex 1: Financial Information _____________________________________________ 51 Annex 2: NDI Campaign Communication Materials _____________________________ 51 Annex 3: Informational Materials on Gender Identity Law ________________________ 51 Annex 4: Technical Summary of Local Subgrantees, by subtopic ___________________ 51 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Executive Summary The Regional Human Rights and Democracy Project is advancing within a particularly challenging geopolitical context. Climate change and natural disasters, such as the earthquakes that hit Mexico and those that continue to affect the countries throughout Central America, the people’s manifestations against their government as in the case of Guatemala; the elections in Nicaragua that allowed greater power into the hands of Daniel Ortega and his party; and the general elections in Honduras that for the first time saw the unconstitutional presidential reelection in a context plagued with illegality and illegitimacy influence the expected trajectory of the project and require constant analysis and observation to adequately adjust to the ever-changing needs throughout the region. Despite challenges within the operating environment, the Regional Human Rights and Democracy Project (referred to henceforth as the Project) has thrived and advanced in its activities to promote human rights throughout the region. The situation of human rights is critical in the target region of the Project. As is the case with Mexico, that in many ways embodies the common sub-regional situation, the country is facing cases of missing persons, extrajudicial killings, torture, citizen insecurity, lack of justice and impunity. It is a country in which the human rights of the most vulnerable groups, especially human rights defenders, women, indigenous populations, children, adolescents, persons with disabilities, migrants and LGBTI individuals are constantly undermined and even threatened. Assassinations, threats, and violence against journalists are increasing, and Mexico is currently considered one of the most dangerous countries in which to be a journalist. On October 10th, 2017, the National Commission of Human Rights gave Recommendation (CNDH) No. 39/20171, soliciting that the authorities, as well as the law enforcement of the state of Sonaloa, take action to protect the right of 2,038 victims of forced internal displacement caused by violence in the municipalities of Choix and Sonaloa de Leyva, Sinaloa. This recommendation came as the first pronouncement from a Mexican authority in which the right to not suffer forced internal displacement is recognized as a human right, and was the first time that the phenomenon of internal displacement was mentioned as a direct consequence of organized crime in Mexico. In contrast to the advances that represent the recommendation given by the CNDH, the Executive Commission of Victim Assistance (CEAV) has denied all recognition of the situation of 60 members of a displaced family. The resolution to the request of acknowledgement was issued with an unjustified delay and without a reasonable explanation. The CEAV declared a “lack of evidence” to grant the recognition of victimization to the members of this family. El Salvador is in the preparatory stages of a municipal electoral process, causing the various candidates to focus on their campaigns and activities that are directly related to winning votes. Cooperative Agreement No AID-596-A-16-00001 Page 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The preoccupation of these officials with their own campaigns has shifted their focus away from other activities, including those implemented in coordination with the Project. President Sánchez Cerén insists on maintaining repressive policies, specifically incarceration, in front of the insecurity created during the ARENA and FMLN governments at the end of the nineties. Consequentially, the Minister of Security requested that the National Assembly continue so- called extraordinary measures despite their modest results in recent years. In the second half of 2017, El Salvador saw a marked increase in the number of homicides. September and October of 2017 saw more than 887 homicides, which was the highest since 19941. The uptick in violence caused by youth gangs or the “maras”, also explains the increase in internal displacement that is fundamentally ignored by the government, both in the absence of policies to address the issue as well as lack of support services to meet victims’ needs. Reliable data currently does not exist on the number of displaced