Programs: Civic Education

Countries: Guatemala

Nongovernmental organizations in Guatemala had an explicit and vital role in the peace process. Not only could NGOs influence the growth of democracy through educating the public about the benefits and responsibilities that come with it, but they played a more direct role in the stabilization of democratic rule by working together to apply pressure on the government to achieve common goals.

 

With the support of USAID, ADF in 1994 implemented a pilot project that trained Guatemalan NGOs to conduct civic education as part of their core activities. This became a most valuable tool to understand the vision and activities of Guatemalan NGOs and to help them, in turn, permanently incorporate much-needed civic/democratic education programs into their portfolios. Forty NGOs took part in the pilot phase alone. ADF enjoyed extensive cooperation from the Association of Service and Development NGOs of Guatemala (ASINDES—NGO), representing some 180 organizations. ASINDES, in particular, collaborated with us in organizing workshops in civic education following a series of discussion groups on NGO needs and interests in providing such programs in Guatemala. Some of the workshops were conducted on several coffee farms and they were successful in a climate that was not always thought of as conducive to democracy. Another notable thing about these workshops was the large amount of rural village women that participated in what only a few years prior might have been viewed as “man’s work”

 

Additional support from USAID/Guatemala resulted in a two-year Civic Education Project. The general and presidential elections in November 1995 and January 1996, respectively, rendered the many ADF activities in Guatemala all the more timely. By accessing ADF grant funding, local NGOs were able to lead innovative civic, legal, and voter education efforts at the community level, build coalitions, and engage in an active get-out-the-vote drive. 

 

The project placed special emphasis on work with the indigenous Amerindians, primarily, Mayans. Although Mayans comprise no less than sixty percent of the total Guatemalan population, historically they were isolated from politics and drastically underrepresented in the country’s governing institutions. Ensuring their informed participation in the elections, therefore, was essential to the health of Guatemala’s new democracy. Under the aegis of ADF, organizations such as Friends of the Americas, the Dolores Bedoya de Molina Foundation, and numerous others, carried out civic education initiatives in villages throughout the country. New voters were registered in several of these communities. The majority of activities were carried out in the central, northern, and western regions of Guatemala, but southern and eastern localities were reached as well.

ADF worked with many Guatemalan NGOs including Movimiento Nacional de Pobladores (National Slumdwellers Movement), an umbrella group of about 65 different squatter settlements. Among other things, they fight to buy the government lands they are living on at affordable prices. In 1995, they voiced their concerns by forming a human chain around the National Palace and through a 2,000 people strong march to the Plaza Central (June). ADF also worked with Asociacion Cristiana de Jovenes (Guatemalan YMCA) (www.acj-guate.org), Asociacion Fe y Alegria (Movement for Integral Popular Education and Social Development) (www.feyalegria.org), Centro de Desarrollo Integral Comunitariat (Center for Integrated Community Development) (www.cedicguatemala.com), Coordinacion de ONG y Cooperativos (Coordination Council for NGOs and Cooperatives for Rural Development) (www.congcoop.org.gt), FAFIDESS (Foundation of Financial Consulting to Institutions of Development and Social Service) (www.fafidess.org), FEDECOCAGUA (Federation of Coffee Cooperatives) www.fedecocagua.org, Fundacion del Centavo (The Penny Foundation, the First Guatemalan Foundation for Development) www.fundacen.org, Fundacion Carrol Behrhorst (originally Foundation Carroll Behrhorst, now Behrhorst Partners for Development.) (www.behrhorst.org), ASINDES (www.asindes.org), Fundacion Dolores Bedoya de Molina (foundation dedicated to the sustainable development of Guatemala), www.fundaciondoloresbedoya.org, Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo (human rights organization focusing on the illegally detained and “disappeared”) www.gam.org.gt, Hogar y Desarrollo (Housing & Development) www.hodeweb.org, Institut de Ensenanzo para el Desarollo Sostenible: www.iepades.org Institute of Education for Sustainable Development, SHARE (sustainable rural development and education), www.asociacionshare.org/servicedet.asp?id=41, Universidad Rafael Landivar (Jesuit university) www.url.edu.gt (and affiliates Centro de Autoformacion de promotores Sociales and Centro de Integracion Familiar.)