Latin American social change leaders face a plethora of complex challenges in their countries, including institutional corruption, human rights violations, and widespread poverty. These ongoing issues underscore the need to cultivate a professional cadre of trainers that can work with and engage diverse groups to strengthen good governance, citizen participation and the rule of law. These practitioners need both increased capacity and a sustainable support network for the long-term success of democratic community development.

In response, Partners and Partners-Argentina designed and implemented a Latin American Regional Training Program for Social Change with support from the Ford Foundation and U.S. Department of State. 16 leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Peru participated in this four-day training program in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The participants represented human rights, women’s rights, environmental law, social psychology, citizen participation and conflict resolution organizations throughout the region.

The program was designed to provide participants with the necessary skills to facilitate complex, multi-party dialogues and cooperative planning processes. The training component thus focused on building capacity in facilitation skills, and also developed communication, negotiation, and consensus-building capabilities. In addition, the program provided a relationship-building opportunity to meet other Latin American organizations working toward social, political and environmental justice.

Throughout the training, the trainers engaged participants in extensive discussions regarding many of the challenges to implementing these skills and processes. Participants expressed concerns whether communication and negotiation are appropriate tools for certain issues like domestic violence; the degree to which citizens would be able to impact their own lives through these processes; and the possible negative connotations in their countries of some of the terminology, such as the word “consensus.” The participants’ concerns gradually changed to understanding and enthusiasm as they began to see the validity of cooperative planning as a vehicle for empowering citizen participation, and in bringing together disparate groups around a common issue.

Extensive feedback from the participants gave an indication of the program’s impact on their organizations, ranging from facilitating dialogues, improving the capabilities of their own organizations, and building relationships with other sectors of society. Examples of these activities include:

• Juan Carlos Gamarra, who represented the Bolivian organization, Proyecto Desarrollo Democrático y Participación Ciudadana, utilized his new facilitation skills to participate in the moderation of the ongoing national dialogue process entitled, “Construction of Space and Mechanisms for Relations between Different Levels of the State and Civil Society.”

• The Chilean organization, The Foundation for Sustainable Development (TERRAM), utilized its conflict management skills to convene a confederation of local fishermen with local officials, environmental groups and fishing industry representatives in order to reform Chilean fishing statutes and the depletion of fishing resources.

• The Chilean organization, Fundación Ideas, incorporated their cooperative planning and conflict resolution skills in its cross-sector environmental and women’s empowerment initiatives. Further, Fundación Ideas utilized its skills in facilitating forums on racial discrimination and xenophobia for representatives from across Latin America.

• In their program Citizen Action for Public Interest, the Formación Jurídica para la Acción (FORJA) in Chile incorporated its new skills in three collaborative dialogues under its Citizen Action for Public Interest initiative.

• Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, from the Peruvian organization, Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental, utilized his new skills in working with a coalition of environmental organizations called the Peruvian Group for Conflict Resolution. Further, as a member of Sociedad Nacional del Medio Ambient, a network of 35 environmental groups, Mr. Pulgar-Vidal is strengthening the operational and structural aspects of the network.

• The Instituto de Defensa Legal in Peru included peaceful conflict management and resolution themes in a workshop it facilitated for justices of the peace and community authorities.