Programme description

Title: Guatemala Peace Process Support Programme (PCON)
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Guatemala
Lead executing agency: Office of the Vice-President of the Republic of Guatemala
Overall term: 2005 to 2012

Context

In 1996, peace accords were concluded in Guatemala after 36 years of internal armed conflict. Yet even today the country is still beset by the traditional lines of conflict the population suffers from poverty and marginalisation, and racism excludes the indigenous majority of the population. The security situation is precarious, and new violent phenomena in the context of organised crime and the international drug trade lead to an increase in the already high tendency towards violence. In view of the connections between old and new violence, the political and social integration of the Mayan population, itself heterogeneous in nature, remains a major challenge.

The 1996 peace accords, which set a national agenda for a tolerant, multicultural, inclusive society based on peaceful conflict resolution, have yet to be adequately implemented. The core problem lies in the fact that the competences and capabilities of government institutions are weak, leaving these bodies inadequately equipped to guarantee security, rule of law and human rights. Thus, important institutions intended to implement the peace accords have only very limited means of control.

Objective

The competences and performance capability of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders at national and sub-national level are strengthened with a view to implementing government policies, institutional reforms and coordination mechanisms for reconciliation, citizen security and peaceful conflict resolution.

Approach

The programme (PCON) is strategically oriented to take into account the weakness of the governmental institutions and the high level of conflictivity prevalent in Guatemalan society. Advisory services focus in particular on institutional strengthening of governmental and non-governmental actors in the programme’s three major fields of action, and on improving dialogue between these actors. One important strategic element is to strengthen and empower the Mayan population, especially Mayan women.

• Reconciliation and reparation
  The programme fosters the social debate on reconciliation in relation to the present. It strengthens cooperation between governmental and non-governmental actors, advises on professional preparation and distribution of documents and witness statements about the civil war, and supports efforts to acknowledge and honour the victims. To this end, PCON supports work by the Center for Mesoamerican Research (CIRMA) to establish and expand a virtual museum aimed at coming to terms with history, the Museo Virtual de la Memoria Histórica. To acknowledge and honour the victims of the country’s internal armed conflict, efforts are underway together with indigenous communities to create a process for coming to terms with local history and for establishing memorial sites. The emphasis is on spreading a positive culture of remembrance.
• Citizen security
  The project advises Guatemala’s Commission for Police Reform, whose mission is to fundamentally transform the National Civil Police (PNC). For example, it supports efforts aimed at improving the internal control system of the police and designing a high-standard career structure for the force, including establishment of a police academy. The focus is on fostering prevention and making police services more citizen-friendly. At departmental, municipal and community levels, PCON promotes work by security commissions to draft and implement local security plans that consider ethnic and gender-related aspects and likewise focus on prevention.
• Methods of peaceful conflict transformation
  PCON supports work to consolidate and disseminate existing and innovative methods of peaceful conflict resolution as well as traditional ones. In courses of instruction lasting several days, the programme trains governmental and civil-society actors to act as multipliers. It also improves dialogue between a wide range of participants and stakeholders. In a complementary approach, targeted support is provided for regional networks as well as the interdepartmental network Red Interdepartamental de Abordaje a la Conflictividad Social. At local level, prevention efforts undertaken by commissions for conflict transformation are supported, in some cases working in collaboration with security commissions.

Results achieved so far

• Addressing the past. The cooperation relationships of a very broad range of actors have been strengthened. This is demonstrated by the improved access, information exchange and coordination of the archives available to the participating organisations. Historical documents, witness statements and other materials have been compiled and presented in user-friendly fashion for various segments of the population, particularly young people. A virtual museum has been established, enabling history to be revisited and addressed.
• Citizen security. The Commission for Police Reform was officially established at the end of 2010. The make-up and methodological focus of the new police model with regard to prevention, citizen-friendliness, transparency, internal control, forensics and professionalisation of police training have been incorporated into the national strategy plan for police reform for 2011 to 2020. Documented experiences are available in systematised form for handover to the current government. The security commissions of the development councils at sub-national level are successively adapting to the needs of the new, preventively oriented police model. Intensive advising of commissions on aspects such as organisational structuring and drafting of organisational manuals is contributing to re-activating, consolidating and improving the work processes of these commissions.
• Peaceful conflict transformation. PCON has worked jointly with civil society organisations to revise training materials that address issues such as adult education, political participation, government and society, as well as innovative methods of conflict transformation. A case study has been published on a traditional conflict resolution mechanism, the Padres de la Tierra of the Mayan group of the Q´eqchi’ in Alta Verapaz, which also forms part of these working materials.
  Since 2010, PCON has used these revised educational materials to train more than 150 staff members of 21 governmental and non-governmental institutions as multipliers in sessions totalling 78 hours. The process approach of these training courses demands that trainees directly apply what they learn in their daily work. In this way, 200 additional multipliers from government institutions and civil society were trained in Alta Verapaz, for example, including indigenous authorities, women and young people. The experience gained from application of these working materials and the feedback from trainees are being considered and incorporated for finalisation of the 2012 materials.