Carmen Rosa De Leon

Instituto de Enseñanza para el Desarrollo Sostenible (IEPADES), Guatemala

Challenges and Progress in Civil Society

    The Peace Accords propose a framework for the construction of a new society based on the model of participation and inclusion, an objective that should become a goal and a commitment for social organizations. This transition will enable us to gradually repair the social fabric that was weakened and changed by internal armed conflicts. However, it is the groups and organised communities who will fulfil this initiative. This is where we see the importance and role of the civil society.

    Given the characteristics of the transition and the large number of people not participating, civil society is defined as the social organization that represents the interests of segments of society and whose objective is to contribute to the formulation of a national policy through civic action and recommendations.

    In the past decade, Guatemala’s civil society has begun the transition to democracy. It has had some failures and successes. Some should be eliminated and others consolidated to ensure that they are given full consideration in the construction of the new national project. The weaknesses include:

• the low participation rate of citizens in the decision-making process, especially in formal procedures;
  
• the tendency of many organizations to employ confrontation with the state instead of getting involved in the joint search for viable alternatives;
  
• the discrediting of political parties;
  
• a private sector intent on defending its union and sectorial intersts rather than seeking alliances that would allow the country’s common goals to be reached;
  
• a group of social activists with little negotiating experience and persistently inflexible and disparaging attitudes towards a State with limited knowledge of how to create a climate conducive to dialogue and communication.

    The strengths of the civil society project include:

• concluding nogotiations and signing the peace treaty;
  
• the sectors that participated in this initiative and the agencies created to negotiate the peace treaty were skillful at establishing dialogue;
  
• in an effort to continue moving forward, even the most belligerent social activists upheld democratic institutions;
  
• certain institutions have risen in public esteem, including the Supreme Electoral Court, the Human Rights Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Constituional Court;
  
• advances have been made in concluding the agreements, particularly those related to opening up spaces for dialogue between civil society and the State, such as the peer commissions and the women’s forum;
  
• creation of spaces for dialogue between civil society and the State, such as meetings to update and discuss reforms to the urban and rural development law, a piece of legislation that was revived through the Peace Accords, which allows communities to
  participate in the decision-making process at every level (local, departmental, regional and national).

The Peace Accords have established a general framework for citizens to participate. All of the agreements contain two main objectives: including indigenous people in building a new Guatemalan nation and having women participate in all areas of decision-making. With the opening up of new spaces over the last decade, these two groups have emerged as a strong socio-political force.

    Modes of participation for Guatemalan civil society have passed through different stages. While organizations backed by some expertise in building dialogue now find themselves in a proactive phase (seeking exchange and consensus through proposals and negotiations with other sectors and the State), the general population and other groups that are just starting to participate are doing so at a reactive level (replacing a former confrontational stance towards the State). The general perception among the different sectors is that there is not much time to develop proposals and reach compromises. There is a tendency for topics of discussion and struggles for leadership to become highly specific. The new transitional phase requires more complex and specialised organizations and a strengthening of local ties to facilitate community participation.

    The greatest challenges that Guatemala’s society has to face in the future deal with the workings of each organization and the relation of these organizations to society as whole.

    The most noteworthy internal challenges include:

• strengthening the foundations of organizations and sectors representing indigenous Maya people;
  
• adequate training and access to information must be provided to become fully involved in the proactive and interactive phase of the negotiating process.

    Some of the most important challenges facing society include sustaining the peace process. An immediate goal is to make it possible for all citizens to participate in the decision-making process, both at a formal level and at a community level.

    NGOs need to move from a denunciatory to a creative stance, from empirical observation to technical know-how, from a state of emergency to one of empowerment. It is imperative to ensure a transparent and accountable administration of resources.

    To increase civil participation and sustain this process, the following actions are recommended:

• strengthen a proactive stance through education, technical training and legal consultation;
  
• promote activities to create alliances and develop the new national project;
  
• create spaces for dialogue between civil society and the State on specific topics of interest to both parties;
  
• create spaces for exchange with the media to establish alliances in civil society.

    Consolidating the democratic process is the responsibility of all Guatemalans. We urgently need to increase our capacity for dialogue and tolerance, in order to attain peace sooner rather than later.



Carmen Rosa De Leon is with the Instituto de Enseñanza para el Desarrollo Sostenible (Training Institute for Sustainable Development) in Guatemala.