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.


• 2^nd 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.


• 2^nd 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