Municipal Partnerships for Violence Prevention in

Central America

Quarterly Report XVI

July 2013 to September 2013

Prepared for the U.S. Agency for International Development

Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean

Office of Regional and Sustainable Development

International City/County Management Association (ICMA)

Cooperative Agreement Award No. RLA-A-00-09-00050-00

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Isabelle Bully-Omictin Tel (202) 489-2780

Program Director

Municipal Partnerships for Violence Prevention

Ms. Brennan Dorn

Assistance Officer’s Technical Representative

USAID/W/LAC/RSD/DHR

USAID

1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW

RRB 5.09-075

Washington, DC 20523

(202) 712-5942

Subject: Cooperative Agreement Award No. LAG-A-00-98-00060-00

Municipal Partnerships for Violence Prevention in Central America

Dear Ms. Dorn,

In compliance with 22 CFR 226.51 (d), Monitoring and reporting program performance, ICMA is pleased

to submit the following report for the subject cooperative agreement.

• Quarterly Report XVI – July - September 2013

If you have further questions about the technical content of these reports, please contact me directly. For

administrative matters, please contact Lisa Lau at (202) 962-3650. For contractual matters, please contact

Mr. Krishna Sob (202) 962-3504.

Sincerely,

Isabelle Bully-Omictin, ICMA

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Regional Partnership For

Decentralization and Local Governance

In the Americas

USAID Quarterly Report XVI

July through September 2013

Table of Contents

I. Introduction II. Major Accomplishments/Progress Towards Results

III. Challenges/Remedial Actions Taken

IV. Proposed Activities and Expected Results for the Next Quarter

Annex 1: Boletín AMUPREV – July-September 2013

Annex 2: Ayuda Memoria de la Reunión con las Asociaciones Nacionales de Municipios de

Centroamérica Annex 3: Acuerdo de Creación de la Red de Asociaciones Municipales de Centroamérica y

República Dominicana para la Prevención de la Violencia

Annex 4: Sistematización Taller de Intercambio de Experiencias Comisiones Municipales

de Prevención de la Violencia

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I. Introduction

ICMA has designed a program that began on October 1, 2009 which focuses on two key objectives: (1)

to promote comprehensive municipal-based violence prevention strategies and programs with key

Central American stakeholders and foster development of regional peer knowledge networks; and (2) to

provide training and technical assistance to local governments and community groups, in coordination

with national police efforts and other municipal-based programs.

ICMA has worked with key institutions in the region to promote the first objective and engage in

outreach. We developed a Toolkit for municipalities to use to promote the creation of municipal-led

mechanisms to provide leadership in bringing together key stakeholders to design and implement crime

and violence prevention programs. We have facilitated the participation of experts in national, regional

and international conferences and conducted workshops for municipal associations and municipal

stakeholders. We have developed a website (www.amuprev.org) which showcases daily examples of

municipalities throughout Latin America which are taking the initiative to develop programs that are

building the foundation for crime prevention in their communities. Furthermore, we have documented

via video the experiences of 8 municipalities in Central America which have demonstrated a

commitment to crime prevention through the leadership of their elected officials, the dedication of their

police forces and the collaboration of representatives from all sectors of civil society, as well as national

government agencies. We have shared these videos through our website and at events and workshops

throughout the Region.

To accomplish Objective 2, ICMA has engaged in a series of municipal partnerships with cities in the

US to share the model of community-oriented policing and governance with municipalities in El

Salvador and Panama. Through these partnerships, police officers, municipal staff, community and

private sector representatives from Santa Ana, California; Arlington, Texas and Pinellas County,

Florida, have provided information, training and technical assistance to their counterparts to bring about

a greater awareness of the need to prioritize and act upon violence and crime prevention programs in a

coordinated and comprehensive fashion. The lessons learned and knowledge gained from the municipal

partnerships have been shared with the broader network through the AMUPREV website.

In September 2012, USAID issued a six-month extension to ICMA through March 29, 2013.

Subsequently, USAID issued a no-cost extension to ICMA through April 30, 2013 and another cost

extension through September 30, 2013. During the last year of the Program, ICMA continued to support

both objectives. ICMA applied the tools and methodologies tested throughout the first Phase of this

Cooperative Agreement to new municipalities in Guatemala and El Salvador; provided continuing support

to the Municipal Crime and Violence Prevention Committees of Palencia and Santa Catarina Pinula,

Guatemala; provided continued strategic support to Nahuizalco and Sonsonate, El Salvador; continued

to share information and practices with its established network of violence prevention and other interested

practitioners in the Region; developed a sustainability plan to maintain the network after project end; and

facilitated the sharing of the Youth Services Eligibility Tool developed by the City of Los Angeles Gang

Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) Office with stakeholders in Guatemala and Honduras.

In October 2013, USAID issued a two-year cost extension to ICMA to continue our work with supporting

the creation and strengthening of Municipal Crime and Violence Prevention Committees in Guatemala

and El Salvador (and potentially Honduras, pending USAID Mission approval). In addition, ICMA will

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strengthen the Municipal Association Network for Violence Prevention in Central America and the

Dominican Republic (the “Red”) formed in August 2013 so that it becomes a sustainable network which

carries on the work of AMUPREV in the Region.

This report summarizes activities and major accomplishments carried out during the period of July to

September 2013.

II. Major Accomplishments/Progress towards Results

A. Summary of trips in current Reporting Period: July to September 2013

Trip No. 54 – 7/9/13 – 7/13/13

El Salvador – Carlos Loría-Chaves

Purpose: Provide TA to Nahuizalco to update tax/fee structure and coordinate upcoming

Conference for Associations.

Trip No. 55 – 7/16/13 – 7/20/13

Guatemala – Carlos Loría-Chaves, Lisa Lau

Purpose: Participate in exchange trip with Santa Ana pro bonos Adrian Silva (Corporal

Detective) and Dr. Cristina Jose Kampfner (psychologist and co-founder of the Evergreen-Cedar

Center) to conduct training on community policing and working with the police and families in

youth and violence reduction activities.

Trip No. 56 – 8/6/13 – 8/10/13

El Salvador – Carlos Loría-Chaves

Purpose: Support Municipality of Nahuizalco to update its fees to fund crime prevention

activities and coordinate logistics for the upcoming Municipalities Associations Conference.

Trip No. 57 – 8/12/13 – 8/17/13

Guatemala – Carlos Loría-Chaves, Francisco

Purpose: Provide technical assistance to the Best Practice Forum in Guatemala with the

Municipal Crime Prevention Commissions.

Trip No. 58 – 8/20/13 – 8/24/13

El Salvador – Carlos Loría-Chaves, Isabelle Bully-Omictin

Purpose: Conduct the Municipal Associations Conference

Trip No. 59 – 9/10/13 – 9/14/13

Guatemala – Carlos Loría-Chaves

Purpose: Provide technical assistance to the Municipal Commissions for Crime Prevention in

Guatemala

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B. Accomplishments by Objective

Strategic Objective 1: Promote comprehensive municipal-based violence prevention strategies

and programs with key Central American stakeholders and foster development of regional peer

knowledge networks.

Intermediate Result 1.1: Orientation and information provided to local government, law

enforcement, and civil society representatives on municipal-based violence prevention.

➢ Integrate website and other ICT

The AMUPREV web site (www.amuprev.org) continues to be updated daily with news

(http://www.amuprev.org/noticias.php) and articles related to municipal-based violence

prevention. Quarterly bulletins continue to be prepared, posted on the website and on Facebook,

and sent by email to more than 1800 stakeholders in the Region. (See Annex 1 for copy of this

Quarter’s Bulletin)

The redesigned Website will be launched next Quarter once input is obtained from the Network

of Municipal Associations to Prevent Violence in Central America and the Dominican Republic.

See IR 1.2 below.

➢ Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Webinar

On Sept. 9 ICMA held an on-line discussion on Crime Prevention through Environmental Design

(CPTED) with the participation of nearly 40 representatives from crime and violence prevention

committees in Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama, representatives from municipal associations

in Costa Rica and other interested stakeholders from the Region and Mexico. The main presenter

was Macarena Rau, Executive Director of PbK Consulting and Vice-President of the

International CPTED Association, ICA, who explained the concept of CPTED, which focuses on

principles of natural vigilance and control as well as access to and maintenance of infrastructure

to create a sense of territorial belonging to a community. According to Macarena, neighborhoods

that are uncared for can oftentimes serve as breeding grounds for illegal activities. The objectives

of CPTED include reducing crime and insecurity, as well as increasing community cohesion. She

specifically emphasized the importance of engaging youth in community activities such as

painting lively, colorful murals on neighborhood walls. By becoming more involved in these

activities, residents tend to gain a sense of ownership of their community, which can deter crime

and violence. After Macarena’s presentation, participants eagerly asked questions about

community engagement and how to link CPTED with community policing. The representatives

of the crime and violence prevention committees and the municipal associations were interested

in engaging in further discussions to possibly incorporate CPTED into their strategies in the

future. As a result of the Webinar, Dr. Willer Patriz, Mayor of Nahuizalco, who was in

attendance at the Webinar, will be presenting at a CPTED Workshop in Chile, as a guest of PbK

Consulting. AMUPREV opened a Facebook group AMUPREV-CPTED to continue the

discussion with Macarena: https://www.facebook.com/groups/543900625681037/. Her

presentation is also available on-line at: http://www.amuprev.org/publicacion.php?id=54.

➢ Below are the statistics of the AMUPREV site traffic during this Quarter.

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INFORME ESTADISTISCO DE PAGINA WEB AMUPREV

JULIO-SEPTIEMBRE 2013

CONCEPTO SUBTOTAL JULIO AGOSTO SEPTIEMBRE

Visitas 1,765 1,919 1,902

Páginas por visita 2.30 2.24 2.38

Tiempo por visita 2:05 2:03 2:14

Páginas visitadas 4,061 4,291 4,520

Noticias 61.75% 60.45% 57.83%

Página principal 4.20% 5.05% 3.78%

Experiencias Municipales

13.82% 14.65% 14.24%

Varias 12.70% 10.79% 11.96%

Index 3.57% 3.75% 4.10%

Publicaciones 3.96% 5.31% 8.09%

Origen de Visitantes Centroamérica 60.57% 66.60% 62.88%

Estados Unidos 14.90% 10.79% 8.41%

Otros (Latinomérica) 18.58% 17.82% 21.45%

Otros 5.95% 4.79% 7.26%

Objetivo de búsqueda

Búsqueda general 64.40% 66.50% 69.00%

Búsqueda directa 26.80% 23.30% 18.50%

Búsqueda por referencia

8.80% 10.20% 12.50%

Otros 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

Correos electrónicos Confirmados 1,815 1,815 1,860

Contactos Facebook 1,332 1,345 1,362

Intermediate Result 1.2: Regional peer network(s) established and municipal coordination

mechanisms strengthened.

➢ Establishment of Network of Municipal Associations to Prevent Violence in Central

America and the Dominican Republic

From August 22-23, 2013 ICMA organized a conference in San Salvador of municipal associations to

create a network of associations dedicated to violence prevention and to the sustainability of AMUPREV.

Presidents, vice-presidents, executive directors and communications coordinators from the municipal

associations of Costa Rica (Unión Nacional de Gobiernos Locales de Costa Rica – UNGL), the

Dominican Republic (Federación Dominicana de Municipios – FEDOMU), El Salvador (Corporación de

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Municipalidades de la República de El Salvador – COMURES), Guatemala (Asociación Nacional de

Municipalidades de la República de Guatemala – ANAM, and Asociación Guatemalteca de Alcaldes y

Autoridades Indígenas – AGAAI), and Honduras (Asociación de Municipios de Honduras – AMHON)

participated in the event. Opening remarks were provided by Barbara Ellington Banks, Director of the

Office of Democracy and Governance, USAID-El Salvador. Throughout the day, participants heard

presentations from the AMUPREV Director, Isabelle Bully-Omictin; the AMUPREV Regional Director,

Carlos Loría-Chaves; Hefer Morataya of the SICA Office of Democratic Security; Santiago Flores, Ex-

Director of the PRE-PAZ Program, Ministry of Justice and Public Security, El Salvador and Humberto

Rodríguez, Coordinator of the “Municipios mas Seguros” Program, Security Secretary of Honduras. Each

of the municipal associations also presented on their current programs and strategies with respect to

promoting crime and violence prevention. A detailed account of the presentations and the conclusions of

the event are included in Annex 2 and is also published on the AMUPREV Website:

http://www.amuprev.org/publicacion.php?id=55

The representatives of the municipal associations agreed to create the network, known in Spanish as the

Red de Asociaciones Municipales de Centroamérica y República Dominicana para la Prevención de la

Violencia, (“Red”) to ensure the sustainability of AMUPREV. The Agreement document is attached in

Annex 3. The association representatives agreed to present a letter of understanding/commitment for

ratification by their respective boards within 6 months of signing the Agreement. AMUPREV will draft

the letter during the next Quarter.

AMUPREV will initially serve as the Technical Secretariat of the “Red” and provide support to the

associations so that they can guide the dialogue on municipal-led crime and violence prevention and play

an important role in the development and implementation of public policies related to the issue.

AMUPREV will provide training and guidance to the communications coordinators of each association,

as well as other relevant staff, to provide input to the AMUPREV Website and Facebook account, expand

the number of Website users and disseminate information and best practices related to municipal-led

crime prevention initiatives in the Region. The support would end by September 30, 2015 when the

“Red” would become sustainable.

The association representatives agreed to promote legislation and norms in their own countries to improve

citizen co-existence and promote municipal-led prevention initiatives; create mechanisms for permanent

regional dialogue on local crime prevention and community/municipal policing and participate in national

and regional forums to promote approaches and disseminate good practices regarding these issue;

promote inter-institutional violence prevention strategies and strengthen the competencies and capacities

of local governments; include support to the development of public policies in violence prevention

focused on municipalities in municipal association plans; develop communication strategies using

existing technologies, and reach out to mass media to change the focus of reporting to issues related to

prevention led by local governments; and coordinate different regional instances to ensure that initiatives

related to municipal-led violence prevention are integrated and coordinated.

On the second day of the event, ICMA presented a preliminary content redesign for the AMUPREV

website to the municipal association representatives. Valuable input was provided by the association

communications coordinators. The primary objectives of the redesign are to provide adequate space on

the site to upload content from the municipal associations as part of the overall strategy to directly engage

the associations in managing the network; prioritize news items; add a calendar feature; and create

opportunities for interaction with users. During the meeting, the Association representatives promised to

provide designs for a logo for the “Red” as a way to provide an identity to the new network. ICMA

proposes to keep the AMUPREV website URL and Facebook page for the next year and slowly transfer

the “identity” from the Program name, AMUPREV, to the “Red,” although continuing to acknowledge

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USAID support and funding on the site. It is anticipated that by September 2015, all content provided to

the site will be managed by the associations.

Strategic Objective 2: Support comprehensive municipal-based violence and crime prevention

programs in select municipalities

Intermediate Result 2.1: Training and technical assistance provided to pilot local governments and

community groups, in coordination with national police efforts and other municipal-based programs

1) El Salvador

➢ Mejicanos - On July 2 and 3, an exchange of experiences took place between representatives of the

members of the Municipal Violence Prevention Council of the Municipality of Mejicanos and

Sonsonate and Nahuizalco. The delegation from Mejicanos were given a tour of Sonsonate by

members of the Sonsonate Citizen Security and Co-existence Committee, including the Mega Plaza,

a project to rehabilitate a public space and reorganize the commercial sector and the Thomas

Jefferson Institute which has implemented a School Resource Officer Program modeled after the

programs in Santa Ana, California. The tour was followed by a workshop where the Technical

Secretary of the Sonsonate Citizen Security and Co-

existence Committee presented its history and

accomplishments, initially with the support of the

UNDP and subsequently with AMUPREV. The

projects which were of particular interest to the

participants included: gender diploma focused on

the family; training to social workers in rights and

obligations for their work with early education; and

strategies for promoting youth employment

opportunities. The delegation from Mejicanos

identified the need to incorporate a School Resource Officer Program in a couple of the most

problematic schools in their municipality and provide training to the Municipal Police (Corporación

de Agentes Municipales) in community policing. A delegation from Nahuizalco’s Social Prevention

and Citizen Security Council also presented their experiences and programs on the second day. The

delegation included members of the National Police which have been very active in Nahuizalco and

the Council’s programs. They explained the change that occurred in their vision from a traditional

police vision to one focused on community policing and citizen engagement, thanks to the

partnership with Santa Ana and the AMUPREV Program.

Although AMUPREV has been supporting Mejicanos only since May 2013, and no partnership

visits were planned for the municipality given the initial budgetary constraints and uncertainty as to

the continuation of the Agreement, the activities conducted with the Mejicanos CMPV have been

very beneficial. The Coordinator of the CMPV, Edwin Geovanny Aquino Ramirez, stated the

following in a recent email to ICMA:

“…[we] are more than thankful to ICMA [and] USAID for the support provided to the

Municipality of Mejicanos in the Institutional Strengthening of the CMPV, we believe that

this effort has contributed to improvements in the work and capacities of the municipality…

Representatives from Sonsonate presenting their public renovation program to the Mayor of Mejicanos

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with this support we have contributed to reducing the Violence indices in the Municipality of

Mejicanos… among the things we are thankful for we could mention the Exchange of

experiences with the municipality of Sonsonate and Nahuizalco which … made us aware of

the work experiences where you have had a presence in the municipalities.” [English

translation of Spanish language quote].

➢ Ayutuxtepeque— On Sept. 21, the CMPV of Ayutuxtepeque held a “Marathon for Peace” to launch

the communications campaign funded by AMUPREV. In addition to the Marathon, the CMPV

created a full-length video of the marathon: http://www.amuprev.org/video.php?id=102 and a

YouTube video of the campaign: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4a7_Q0ZIM4

In addition, the campaign included radio spots, interviews, murals, stickers for cars, posters, banners

on electrical posts and copies of a pocket ordinance on the norms of citizen conviviality.

➢ Delivery of Tablets to GRIP Program in Centro Escolar San Genaro, Sonsonate; Centro Escolar

Prof. Jorge Alfredo Mendoza, Sonsonate and Centro Escolar Los Lucas, Nahuizalco —

The 18 computer tablets purchased by AMUPREV to give to the highest performing children

participating in the three GRIP Programs in Sonsonate and Nahuizalco were delivered to the schools

this Quarter. Already, the School Directors indicated that there has been an improvement in the

behavior of the children in the program both at home and at school and an improvement in their

grades. The Program participants are continuing to get support from the police and municipalities,

and the Program is scheduled to end with the end of the school year in November 2013. ICMA will

conduct an evaluation of all three programs in November. An informal “mid-term” evaluation was

conducted in July but it was too early in the program to truly see results. Although the Work Plan

specified that we would do a formal evaluation in September, given the extension granted to ICMA

during this period we will systematize the experiences and produce a guide for future

implementation of GRIP in schools throughout the Region during the next Quarter, once the school

year is finished. The National Consultant will work with school teachers and administrators to

identify lessons-learned and improvements to the Program.

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In Nahuizalco the School Director indicated that violence

among students had dropped significantly since the start of the

Program. According to school administrators and teachers, one

of the children in the Program, Boris Pérez, has demonstrated a

radical change in behavior and in his school performance. He

was elected school president and has participated in the

activities with the National Civil Police. He commented that “I

thought that they [the Police] would come to the school to take

us to the Police Station, but this was not true, on the contrary,

they are our friends and give us talks and support us in this project so that we don’t get involved with

gangs or take drugs.” [English translation of quote from Boris Pérez.]

The school Director, Professor Danilo Candel, has indicated that he is interested in looking for

funding to continue the Program during the next school year from the municipality and the private

sector.

➢ Technical study on options for financing and sustaining citizen co-existence and violence

prevention

ICMA proposed to assist the Mayor and Council of Nahuizalco to conduct a study of its tax structure

to identify ways to raise additional revenue to support prevention programs aimed at youth and

adolescents. A working group was created which received support from the AMUPREV Regional

Director, Carlos Loría, in the revision of the Municipal Tax Law and existing Nahuizalco

ordinances. It was determined that the working group should review existing municipal service fees

which are approved by the Council through an ordinance, vs. proposing additional taxes which

require approval by the Legislative Assembly at the national level. Notwithstanding, Mr. Loría

recommended that the Municipal Council of Nahuizalco present to the National Legislative

Assembly a bill to approve an adjustment to municipal taxes in the short-run. The group conducted a

diagnostic of the budgeting structure of the Municipality of Nahuizalco; an evaluation of its revenue-

generation capacity and behavior, including a review of the potential for revenue generation of a new

municipal market, and a review of existing fees in neighboring municipalities (Santa Catarina,

Ataco, Apaneca, Juayua and Sonsonate). As a result, the working group came up with a proposal for

an estimation of the new fee structure for all services provided by the municipality to be presented to

the Municipal Council. The proposal includes adjustments to current fees, new fees for disposal of

solid waste and differentiated rates for public lighting according to rural/urban areas. If the proposal

is approved, the group estimates that revenues would increase by US$192,980.94, representing

103% of the own-source fee revenue for public services generated by Nahuizalco in 2012. The

Mayor has proposed that $50, 619.84 would be destined for prevention activities, with the remainder

to be used to pay for maintenance and administration of other services, including management of the

new market.

Next Quarter the proposal is expected to be presented to the Council for approval. With the

extension, should the proposal be approved, ICMA will work with Nahuizalco to develop a

communications campaign to help the Mayor and Council explain the revised structure and the

benefits of increased revenue for the municipality. ICMA will involve the CMPV of Nahuizalco in

the campaign.

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2) Guatemala

➢ Palencia—

On July 25, the Municipal Violence Prevention Commission of Palencia participated in a “Citizen

Conversation for a Peaceful Co-existence,” led by the Unit for the Community Prevention of

Violence (UPCV) of the Vice-ministry of Violence and Crime Prevention of the Ministry of

Governance. The objective of the organizers of this Conversation was to identify the existing

problems related to violence in the municipality. Support for the event was provided by AMUPREV

as well as the USAID-funded Violence Prevention Program implemented by RTI, (PPV-RTI).

Members of the MVPC, including Community Police from the National Civil Police who work with

the UPCV to engage with citizens in the community, and specifically in schools, were also in

attendance.

Another activity conducted with the participation of the Municipal Crime and Prevention

Commission was the Palencia Youth Festival held on Sept. 1, with support of the Community

Commissions (COCODES), USAID/PPV-RTI, USAID/AMUPREV-ICMA, the Proyecto Barrilete,

ESFRA/Jugar por la Paz, Fundación Paiz, and the National Civil Police. More than 1,500 people (the

majority of them children and youth) attended the festival, which included sporting and cultural

activities and games. The National Civil Police and Municipal Transit Police, firefighters, health

center workers, among others, helped to facilitate the event which was aimed at creating a culture of

peace and co-existence in the community.

During the Quarter, ICMA continued to support Palencia in the development of its Municipal

Violence Prevention Plan which will be ready next Quarter. ICMA also discussed a plan with the

Commission to reach out to NGOs and other municipal departments to ensure that the Commission

is more representative.

➢ Santa Catarina Pinula –

AMUPREV worked with the Santa Catarina Pinula Commission during this Quarter to formulate its

Strategic Plan. The Plan is being reviewed by the Legal Advisor to the Municipality and the

Planning Office. In addition, the Commission is working on its Work Plan for 2014, programming

activities in accordance with the strategic objectives identified by the Commission. It is expected

that the Strategic Plan will be approved by the Council during the next Quarter.

During the Quarter, the Commission continued to monitor and promote its campaign “Pilas Contra

los Vicios, Usted Vale” and the practical guide for teachers against the use of alcohol and drugs.

The Commission also supported a dinner with pastors from throughout Santa Catarina Pinula to

discuss the work of the Commission and how they could support it. In addition, the Commission

hosted an event entitled “Cinema in your Community” which was held in one of the schools (Cantón

Rincón de la Piedra) where parents and kids watched a movie and listened to presentations by the

Commission regarding their work and that of the municipality to strengthen their ability to prevent

crime and violence.

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➢ CityLinks Exchange visit from Santa Ana to

Santa Catarina Pinula and Palencia –

During the week of July 15-20, two representatives

from Santa Ana – Detective Adrián Silva of the Santa

Ana Police Department and Dr. Cristina Kampfner, co-

founder and current Director of the Ever Green Cedar

Center – traveled to Guatemala to share their knowledge

with members of the Crime Prevention Commissions of

Santa Catarina Pinula, Palencia and Mixco, as well as

community leaders and police. Detective Silva discussed the 30-year trajectory of the City of

Santa Ana from when it first started to think about changing the way that police treated

citizens to its current community philosophy and practice which permeates throughout the

SAPD. Detective Silva also held a special session with Police Instructors of the Police

Academy for Officials (ESFOP), as per the request of USAID/Guatemala and in support of

the PPV (USAID/RTI). Dr. Cristina Kampfner also spoke to the officers and commission

members from the three municipalities and discussed her Center’s services, which include

mental health assistance, tutoring and after-school support, and programs which promote self-

discipline, and respect for parents and authority.

➢ Mixco–On July 4, 2013 the Violence Prevention and Security Commission of Mixco was formed.

The Board of Directors was also selected, with Roberto Zapeta, the Security Manager of the

Municipality of Mixco, selected as President.

On September 26 and 27, the Commission hosted the first “Youth Conversation” with the

participation of 800 youth from different educational institutions in the municipality. The objective

of this “Conversation” was to conduct a diagnostic of

perceptions of violence and risk and protective

factors in the community to be used in the

development of the Municipal Prevention Plan which

the Commission will work on in the next Quarter.

AMUPREV provided assistance to purchase sound

equipment, a computer and projector for the event

and t-shirts and buttons handed out to the

participants. The equipment is part of the donation that AMUPREV has provided to all municipal

committees and will be used to further the objectives of the Commission. The event led to the

identification of the following problems in the community: sale and consumption of alcohol and

drugs; extortions (houses and businesses); robberies in urban buses; robberies (cell phones and other

objects) and assaults in general; and sexual assaults and other violations in dark alleys of the

municipality. It is expected that this information will lead to the development of public policies to

create a culture of peace and co-existence in the municipality and in educational centers reflected in

a strategic plan for violence prevention.

➢ Exchange of experiences on municipal violence prevention in Mixco, Palencia and Santa Catarina

Pinula – The MVPCs of Mixco, Palencia and Santa Catarina Pinula participated in a workshop in

Guatemala on the 14th and 15th of August to share information and experiences and obtain inputs to

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help the development of their work plans. ICMA also invited Amparo de Cano from the Colón,

Panama MVPC and Dr. Willer Patriz, Mayor of Nahuizalco, to present their experiences with crime

prevention and the support they have received from AMUPREV to strengthen their Committees.

Representatives of USAID/Guatemala attended the two-day workshop, including the Deputy

Democracy and Governance Director, Sr. Eduard Gonzalez, who gave the opening remarks, and

Carlos Rosales from the Office of Democratic Governance, as well as Candance Bannerman, COP of

the USAID-funded PPV-RTI . During the first day representatives from each MVPC presented their

accomplishments and plans for the future. On the second day the participants were divided up into

groups according to different themes as follows: 1) Strengthening and sustainability of MVPCs; 2)

Education and Values; 3) Sports and Culture; 4) Family, Women and Youth; 5) Communication,

Accountability and Indicators. The groups discussed the advances they had made and difficulties and

challenges they encountered, along with recommendations. The results of the group discussions and

additional information on the workshop are in Annex 4 and have also been posted on the

AMUPREV site: http://www.amuprev.org/publicacion.php?id=56.

III. Challenges/Remedial Actions Taken

The visit to Santa Ana for representatives from Palencia, Santa Catarina Pinula and Mixco

planned for the end of September had to be postponed because the police officers were not vetted

in time. With the extension to AMUPREV, ICMA has rescheduled the exchange to early

November 2013.

IV. Proposed Activities and Expected Results for next quarter – October

1. Prepare and submit Work Plan and revised M&E Plan by Dec. 2.

2. Continue working to support the Security Commissions with a focus on Violence

Prevention in Mixco, Santa Catarina Pinula and Palencia to help them finalize their

municipal violence prevention plans.

3. Meet with USAID Missions in Guatemala and El Salvador to schedule visits with

additional municipality in Guatemala (possibly Coban) and El Salvador (possibly

Suchitoto).

4. Prepare and conduct visit to Santa Ana from 8 (total) representatives from Palencia, Santa

Catarina Pinula and Mixco: November 2013.

5. Draft final evaluation/lessons learned report for the GRIP activities in Nahuizalco and

Sonsonate. Develop guide for the replication of GRIP.

6. Provide focused technical assistance to Ayutuxtepeque and Mejicanos.

7. Launch redesign of website with “Red” logo

8. Develop Guide for municipal associations for posting information onto the website and

provide training and guidance to municipal association communications directors

9. Draft letter of understanding/commitment for approval by Board of Directors of

municipal associations (members of the “Red”)

10. Continue to update website daily and Facebook account; prepare and disseminate

quarterly bulletins.