Training Young Leaders
For the promotion of democratic practices and values, the UPD has
developed a hemispheric program on democratic institutions, values, and practices for
young leaders.
The main objectives included fostering the development and acquisition of theoretical
and empirical knowledge of the functioning of democratic institutions and processes, as
well as the importance, meaning, and application of the fundamental principles, values,
practices, and institutions of democracy. The event also sought to promote information
related to techniques, tools, and modern practices of political/democratic work, which now
seem essential to public administration and political management, such as strategies and
techniques for political communication, techniques for negotiation and conflict
management, organization of parties and electoral campaigns, formulation and use of
surveys, electoral organization, administration, and oversight, and the management of
statistics, data bases, and data processing, among others. Another objective was to
encourage the exchange of experiences, accounts, and critical assessments, as well as
dialogue among young leaders of the different political and social sectors of members
States pertaining to democratic values and practices.
In 1998 the first four of these types of training
workshops were held : in Central America (September 1998 in Costa Rica), the
Mercosur nations (August 1998 in Argentina), the Andean region (Cuenca, Ecuador, November
1998). Since June 1999, this project has been comprised of regional training
courses on Democratic Institutions.
These courses include the
following and are arranged by region:
Mercosur
-
Regional Course for Mercosur: "Legislative Power in Democracy and
Integration." This theoretical-practical course took place August 1-12, 1999 in
Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the member states of Mercosur. The course was jointly
organized the Parliamentary Training Institute (ICAP) of the Argentine Congress. Twenty
representatives participated, coming from civil society organizations, universities, the
media, non-governmental organizations and political parties of the Argentina, Paraguay,
Uruguay and Brazil. The course promoted greater knowledge
of the powers, role and workings of the legislative branch in a
democracy and in integration, and a greater understanding of its
complexity, shortcomings and opportunities, particularly among public
opinion-makers.
- Regional Course for the MERCOSUR: "Decentralization
and Local Government with an Emphasis on Citizen Participation".
This course took place August 8-18, 1999, in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, and was jointly organized with the Argentinean Ministry of
the Interior and the Universidad del Salvador and the Fellowships
Department of the OAS. Approximately twenty-one MERCOSUR Fellows
participated, from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, as well as
from the associate nations Bolivia and Chile. The participants had the
opportunity to study analytically and exchange information on their
experiences in the processes of decentralization and citizen
participation which are developing in their countries.
- 2nd Regional Course for Young Leaders of MERCOSUR: Democratic
Institutions, Values and Practices. This course took place November 7-17, 1999 in
Asunción, Paraguay, and was organized jointly with Paraguay's Vice-Ministry of Youth. The
Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Argentine Institute of Training and Formation of Political
Leaders, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), and the Catholic
University of Paraguay also supported the event. Thirty-three youths participated, from
political parties, the media, universities and the social sectors of the nations of
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. The principal course objectives
and content were shared with those of the course listed above.
Andean Region
- Regional Course for the Andean Region:
Decentralization with an Emphasis on Management and Finances.
This course was presented from June 21- July 1, 1999 in Santa Fe de
Bogotá, Colombia, and was jointly organized with the Universidad
Javeriana. This course offered an opportunity in the region for
reflection and training on the conceptual and practical elements of the
decentralization process, local government, and citizen participation.
- Regional Course for the Andean Region: "Democracy and Transforming Conflicts."
This course took place September 13-23, 1999, in Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia, and
was organized jointly with Universidad Javeriana. Also collaborating in the course were
the Colombian Institute of Educational Credit and Foreign Technical Studies (ICETEX) and
the Fellowships Department of the OAS. The principal objective of the coursewas to sensitize participants to the relevance and importance of developing
instruments and strategies for peaceful conflict resolution. Thirty-five
representatives participated in the course, coming from the national and
local level public sectors, the media, higher education, and civil society
organizations from the Andean Region and Chile.
- 2nd Regional Course for Young Leaders of the Andean Region: "Democratic
Institutions, Values and Practices". This course took place October 18-28, 1999
in Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia, and was organized jointly with the Luis Carlos Galán
Institute for the Development of Democracy under the auspices of the Andres Bello Center.
Thirty young leaders participated as representatives of civil society organizations,
universities, the media and the political parties of Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Perú
and Colombia. The course covered the following themes: Theory of Democracy and the
Challenges of the Region; Democracy and its Institutions; Political Actors; Democratic
Values and Practices for a Democratic Culture; and Instruments for Managing Political
Democracy.
Central America
- Regional Course for the Central American
Region: Conflict Resolution. This course took
place June 23-30, 1999 in the Dominican Republic, and was jointly
organized with the U.S. Institute of Peace y Universidad Madre y Maestra.
The principal objective of the seminar was to promote a better
understanding of the dynamics of socio-political conflict, as well as the
development of abilities and expertise to prevent, manage and resolve
conflict peacefully.
- Regional Course for Central America: "Legislative Power in Democracy and
Integration ." This course took place September 19-29, 1999 in Sololá,
Guatemala, and was jointly organized with the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) and
Rafael Landívar University, under the auspices of the Congress of the Republic of
Guatemala. Thirty-five young leaders participated, coming from civil society
organizations, universities, the media, and political parties of the Central American
region and the Dominican Republic.The objectives of this
course were similar to those outlined above for the MERCOSUR course. An
additional objective was that of bringing about a rapprochement, sharing
of experiences and joint reflection amongst young people in the region on
the question of democracy and the legislative branch.
- 2nd Regional Course for Young Leaders of the Central
American Region: "Democratic Institutions, Values and
Practices".This course took place from September 18-28 in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and was organized jointly by
the UPD, the Central American Institute for Political Studies (INCEP) and
the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, Center for Advisory Services
and Electoral Promotion (IIDH/CAPEL). Forty-five young leaders
participated from various political parties, the media, universities and
civil society organizations of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua
and the Dominican Republic. The course covered the following themes:
Theory of Democracy and the Challenges of the Region; Democracy and its
Institutions; Political Actors; Democratic Values and Practices for a
Democratic Culture; and Instruments for Managing Political Democracy.
Caribbean
- Workshop on Legislative Drafting for the
Caribbean.
This workshop took place in Barbados from February 7 to
11, 2000, with the support of the Government of Barbados and in
collaboration with the Law Faculty of the University of the West
Indies, Cave Hill campus. This intensive training workshop, which
concentrated both on theoretical concepts and practical exercises in
legislative drafting, was designed for mid- and senior-level
professionals from the Attorney Generals' or Justice Ministries of the
participating member states, and was attended by individuals
representing ten member states of the English-speaking Caribbean.
[Democracy/tracker.htm]