PROJECT STRENGTHENING OF MUNICIPAL CAPACITIES FOR THE ALTERNATE RESOLUTION OF CONFLICT

Conflicts are present as an inherent part of human nature, both in our interpersonal, intergroup, community and inter-state relationships. In Salvadoran culture, the conception of conflict has been transferred generationally as something negative, something that should be avoided or that should be avoided. The existence of this perception is logical, since we come as a country to live an armed conflict of more than a decade, which is a part of the conditions of the reality of violence that is experienced today.

YSince conflicts arise constantly in the different spheres of our society, it can be affirmed that these will continue to exist over time, so that, faced with such an imminent reality, it is our duty as workers for peace, to strengthen the capacities of people and institutions, so that they can build bridges of dialogue and approach conflicts from a peaceful, creative and collaborative approach.

For more than a decade, laws and public policies have been evolving in response to the need to regulate something so human, coexistence. This could be an indicator that we are losing our ability to co-exist, but it is also a generator of opportunities, and tells us that there is a need in the territory to be able to carry a new message and, above all, useful actions to influence the dynamics local. In view of the above, the municipalities are fundamental pillars in the transformation of the climate of conflict that surrounds our country.

Therefore, since 2014, our organization has implemented the Strengthening of Municipal Capacities for the Alternative Resolution of Conflicts, framed in the opening of Municipal Units legally accredited before the Attorney General's Office as Mediation Centers, responsible for the attention of cases of local, neighborhood and community conflict. The selection, training and accreditation of municipal personnel for the provision of the mediation service and contraventional processes has been carried out; community leaderships have been formed in skills for the transformation of conflicts; Citizen Coexistence Ordinances and Administrative Contraventions have been formulated and put into effect, based on the diagnosis of conflicts.

With this effort, we have also promoted the articulation with local institutions for the referral of cases that can be addressed through the Alternative Resolution; and we have disseminated it in the localities intervened, both in urban and rural spaces, through awareness campaigns and citizen education through digital tools and non-traditional artistic methodologies such as the social circus.

The Process of Transformation of social reality will undoubtedly take several decades, but it is important that we build more alliances that allow us to carry out actions that impact the lives of Salvadorans, in the lives of those who face the challenges of current reality throughout El Salvador. We must inspire a great virtue of the human being: the virtue of re-learning. Our organization thanks our partners in this effort, the Municipalities that have decided to assume this commitment, the local leaders that offer their collaboration in a noble way, and the Cooperation Agencies such as USAID, which have been strategic partners in this effort. build a new and better country.

We invite you to learn more about this effort and our methodology, contact us.