Guatemala  $875,000

A.  Strengthening Guatemala’s National-Level Civil Society Institutions and Policies

ActionAid International USA (AAI USA):  $50,000  Recommended for a) the Plataforma Agraria (Agrarian Platform), a coaliton of grassroots and non-governmental organizations working to inform policy-makers and multilateral aid agencies about the need to transform the rural economy in Guatemala, and create a broad consensus on strategies for such a transformation within Guatemalan civil society ($30,000); and b) the Sector de Mjueres (Women’s Sector), a national advocacy network whose membership monitors the implementation of policies intended to benefit women, promotes gender equality, and builds greater economic, political, cultural and social agency among Guatemalan women ($20,000).

Asociación de Servicios Comunitarios de Salud (ASECSA):  $30,000  For its project to strengthen ecologic agriculture in Guatemala, which trains small-scale agricultural producers in ecologically friendly farming methods and works to promote agricultural policies that better respond to the often ignored needs of these producers. 

Asociación para la Promoción y el Desarrollo de la Comunidad – Ceiba:  $50,000  For a) support of its project Formulating Municipal and Departmental Alternatives to Mining in Huehuentenango and Solola, which will work with grassroots organizations to formulate development alternatives to mining projects ($20,000); and b) its Strengthening the Capacities of Mayan Communities to Engage in Sustainable Development Project, which works with 45 communities in the Western Highlands region of Guatemala to increase the profitability of production for internal markets as an economic alternative, and to increase engagement in local, regional and international commerce through increased access to modern communication.  ($30,000)

Center for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH):  $40,000  For its Justice and Reconciliation project (DEJURE), which works with indigenous communities to prosecute former government and military officials for genocide and other crimes.

Ecologic Development Fund:  $25,000  Recommended for Trópico Verde, an environmental justice organization working to educate Guatemalan policymakers on environmental issues, mobilize broad social participation in environmental protection, promote conservation and rational use of Guatemala's forests and wetlands, and protect biodiversity.               

International Commission of Jurists (ICJ):  $35,000  To establish a country office in Guatemala, which will promote the implementation of international human rights principles and improvements in the Guatemalan justice system.     

Myrna Mack Foundation:  $40,000  For its Project for Judicial Study, Analysis and Military Reform, which works to strengthen the rule of law in Guatemala and promote military reform through research, advocacy and training.      

Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA):  $50,000  Recommended for a) Pop No’j Educational Program, which provides leadership training and policy support to indigenous organizations, promotes citizen participation, and seeks to generate dialogue and coordination between indigenous and non-indigenous groups ($30,000); and b) Coordinación del Acompañamiento Internacional de Guatemala (Coordinating Committee of International Accompaniment in Guatemala), which coordinates the work of human rights observers and accompaniers in over 30 communities whose members have brought charges of genocide against past government officials($20,000).  

Rights Action:  $100,000  For a) Rights Action’s Community-Based Human Rights Defenders project in Guatemala, which provides education, training, and financial support to human rights organizations working at the community level in the regions most affected by repression during the civil war ($30,000) second installment of a two-year, $60,000 grant; b) recommended for the Asociación de Mujeres Madre Tierra, a grassroots, membership organization of indigenous and campesina women from the South Coast working to promote gender equity and inter-cultural understanding locally, municipally, regionally and nationally (25,000); c) the National Coordinator of Indigenous and Campesino Organizations (CONIC), an indigenous organization working with indigenous and campesino communities for economic justice and for legal rights to their lands ($35,000); and d) the CONIC Women’s Commission, to promote the greater involvement and rights of indigenous women within the greater indigenous campesino movement ($10,000).       

Sinergia No’j:  $30,000  For its project to Strengthen the Greater Movement for Social Justice in Guatemala, providing technical assistance, leadership development and advocacy training to five targeted allies within different social movements, and by building alliances among movements.

B.  Strengthening Capacity and Civil Society at the Local Level

ActionAid International USA (AAI USA):  $15,000  Recommended for support of the Coordinadora de Organizaciones Campesinas-Indígenas de Petén (coordinator of Peasant and Indigenous Organizations in the Petén), a regional organization that works to promote community organizing and development in the Petén.        

Ecologic Finance:  $30,000  For general support of this organization, whose loan fund fosters biodiversity conservation and community-based, socially equitable economic development.  First installment of a two-year $60,000 grant.

Engineers Without Borders:  $2,500  For the La Providencia Bridge Project, a bridge building project carried out by students at the Milwaukee School of Engineering under the supervision of engineering faculty and other expert engineers, to provide the relocated community of La Providencia in San Lucas Toliman municipality with a bridge.        

Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA): $31,500 
Recommended for the Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular (Center for Investigation and Popular Education), which works to strengthen and consolidate individual and collective leadership among rural women in Guatemala. 

Rights Action:  $116,000  Recommended for a) the Asociación Comunitaria de Desarrolo Integral Mam (ACODIMAM), a grassroots, community development organization promoting community action, sustainable development and reproductive health in Mam communities in Quetzaltenango and San Marcos ($21,000); b) ACODIMAM ($10,000), ASECSA ($20,000), CONIC ($20,000) for recovery efforts in response to the continued neglect of marginalized communities devastated by Hurricane Stan; c) the Asociación Para el Desarrollo Intergral Maya “Ajchmol” (Mayan Association for Integrated Development “Ajchmol”), a regional organization that promotes development in Mayan communities in San Marcos and is working to help the Mayan people in the department of San Marcos respond to the threat of mining in their communitites ($25,000); and d) for the Asociación Nacional de Mujeres Guatemaltecas Ixmucané, a grassroots organization of indigenous and campesina women in the department of the Petén whose activities include providing leadership to rural women and promoting women’s land rights ($20,000).

Strategies for International Development (SID):  $30,000  For its Guatemala Project, which assists farm families in 44 communities in the Western Highlands of Guatemala to reclaim and protect their watersheds and farmland while increasing their income and productivity. 

Wildlife Conservation Society WCS):  $20,000  For its Community-based Forest and Concession Management Project in Uaxactún, Guatemala, which is an internationally-recognized, model project that helps this community generate income while conserving natural resources. 

World Neighbors:  $55,000  For a) its Guatemala project, which builds capacity among marginalized communities in Guatemala, thereby enabling them to satisfy their own basic needs ($35,000); and b) recommended for the Asociación Ija’tz, a community development organization in the Lake Atitlán area that provides training and technical assistance to indigenous, small-scale farmers and that works to promote sustainable farming practices, increase income and strengthen the participation of women in their communities ($20,000).        

C.  Promoting a Just U.S. and Multi-Lateral Policy Toward Guatemala that Fosters Human Rights and Socioeconomic Justice

Latin America Working Group Education Fund (LAWG):  $40,000  For general support of this organization, which seeks to promote human rights in U.S. foreign policy towards Latin America, especially Guatemala, Columbia, and Mexico.

Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA):  $45,000  For general support of this organization, whose activities include promoting human rights and social and economic justice in Guatemala, including the implementation of the 1996 Peace Accords, and promoting a U.S. policy that supports these goals. 

Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA):  $40,000  For its In Search of Truth and Justice: Combating Impunity in Guatemala project, which supports human rights, democratic consolidation, and social and economic justice in Guatemala through policy advocacy and media outreach in the United States and Guatemala.