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Partners-Mexico
Local Name: Socios México/Centro
de Colaboración Cívica, A.C.
Director: Mara I. Hernández
Estrada
# of Staff: 6
Center since: 2005
Contact Information:
Av. México 27-Depto. 1
Col. Hipódromo Condesa
C.P. 06100 Deleg. Miguel Hidalgo
Tel: (52-55) 5286-4899
Tel/Fax: (52-55) 5286-6440
Email: mara@sociosmexico.org
Website:
www.colaboracioncivica.org
In September 2004, Partners launched an initiative to foster
inter-sectoral collaboration in resolving public disputes
in Mexico. Partners-Mexico was established as a national
Center for Civic Collaboration in Mexico City, which is
serving as a nexus for NGO-government-private sector collaboration.
The Center focuses on advancing democratic planning and
decision-making, engaging more citizens and organizations
in civic matters, and promoting more effective public-private
partnerships. Founded as an independent non-profit organization,
the Center is staffed by Mexican nationals, and Partners
is working closely with the Center to build its programmatic
and organizational capacity and to ensure its long-term
self-sustainability.
The Center focuses on three core program areas:
1. Resolving Public Policy Issues through Multi-stakeholder
Processes
The Center is using an array of Partners’ successful methodologies
to bring together diverse sectors of society to jointly
resolve public disputes and concerns. Working with civil
society, private sector and government representatives,
the Center identifies disputes that could benefit from a
multi-stakeholder dialogue process, designs and facilitates
inclusive processes to address the varying interests, helps
the participants reach consensus-based solutions, and ensures
effective implementation of the agreements reached. Partners-Mexico
is applying this methodology to the following program:
- In cooperation with local partner Noroeste Sustentable
(NOS), Partners and Partners-Mexico are currently working
to promote environmentally conscious and sustainable economic
policies in the Sea of Cortez. The program is facilitating
sustainable development agreements between diverse NGO,
local business, corporate, and government stakeholders.
Through consensus building forums facilitated by the Center,
these stakeholders are working together to reach agreements
on intractable development issues, such as over-fishing,
which has wreaked havoc on the delicate ecological balance,
endangered the rare Phocoena sinus porpoise, and threatened
the economic sustainability of the fishing industry. The
program is creating agreements that are paving the way
for a long-term pact on development in the Gulf region
which will use binding mechanisms and independent monitoring
bodies to address sustainability issues in the long-term.
2. Building an Institutional Culture of Cooperative
Change Management
In addition to fostering increased cooperation between
sectors, the Center provides key NGOs, businesses and local
governments with the skills to effectively manage change
and resolve disputes within their own institutions and networks.
By training participants from each sector to mainstream
these methodologies in their own organizations, the Center
broadly multiplies the application of these models and builds
a culture of cooperative change management throughout society.
Capacity building work includes:
- Strengthening civil society’s change management
skills in the areas of communication and negotiation,
coalition building, cooperative planning, meeting facilitation
and cooperative advocacy.
- Building transparent, accountable and effective
local government with an improved capacity to work
with disparate groups, involve constituents in decision-making,
negotiate among multiple interests, and facilitate community
dialogues.
- Developing the private sector’s ability to resolve
disputes and manage change by involving stakeholders
in project design and implementation, building effective
partnerships, and mediating labor disputes.
Partners-Mexico is collaborating with the United Nations
Development Program to design and facilitate Mexico’s National
Democratic Dialogue on the Millennium Development Goals.
In the wake of Mexico’s polarized post-election period,
this dialogue has gained national significance and will
employ an impartial and cooperative process to promote agreement
among different social actors about development issues in
Mexico.
3. Enhancing University Change and Conflict Management
Curricula
In order for the field of change and conflict management
to continue to produce new ideas and talent, new generations
of leaders need to be educated in theory and practice. Partners-Mexico
is working closely with Mexican universities to strengthen
their existing change and conflict management courses and
to incorporate new curricula regarding multi-party stakeholder
mediation.
This initiative is funded by USAID,
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The GE Foundation,
and Kimberly Clark Mexico.
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