Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force
Canada also supports security efforts through the Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force (START), also managed by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, which has been working in Guatemala since 2009 and has implemented projects that improve citizen access to security and justice institutions and also promote fundamental human rights. START programming is divided into 3 funds – Global Peace and Security Fund, Global Peace Operations Program and the Glynn Berry Fund.
Guatemala benefits from both the Global Peace and Security Fund and the Global Peace Operations Program.
Global Peace and Security Fund projects in Guatemala
Reinforcing State Response to Cases of Violence Against Children and Adolescents in Guatemala
Announced: 11 October 2012, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Implementing Partner: UNICEF Guatemala
Cost: $1.2 million
Timeframe: 12 months ending March 31, 2013
This project addresses the critical problem of violence against children by reinforcing Guatemalan justice and security systems with an effective, integrated system for child protection that detects the children who are victims of violence, refers them to the services they need and provides them with access to justice.
Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls in Guatemala and El Salvador
Announced: 11 October 2012, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Implementing Partner: Centre for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI)
Cost: $1.2 million
Timeframe: 12 months ending March 31, 2013
This project supports efforts at the municipal and community levels to develop action plans and implement concrete actions for preventing violence against women and girls in Guatemala and El Salvador.
Increasing Availability of Physical Evidence for Judicial Proceedings in Cases of Serious Crimes in Guatemala
Announced: 11 October 2012, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Implementing Partner: UN Development Programme
Cost: $900,000
Timeframe: 6 months ending March 31, 2013
The 30-year Guatemala internal armed conflict was marked by the death of many innocent civilians. The conflict ended in 1996 with the signing of an UN-negotiated peace accord. Canada has been working with local groups and Canadian non-governmental organizations to help bring justice to those that suffered during this period of history.
This project will help Guatemala’s justice system prosecute the authors of the atrocities committed during the country’s internal armed conflict by supporting the Archivo Histórico de la Policía Nacional [National Police historical archive] and the Fundación de Antropología Forense de Guatemala [Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala].
Strengthening Legal Representation for Strategic Human Rights Litigation
Announced: 23 June 2011 in Guatemala City, Guatemala
Implementing Partner: Lawyers without Borders Canada
Cost: $1.6 million
Timeframe:
This project supports access to justice for vulnerable groups, including victims of crime and human rights defenders. One of its main objectives is to establish a collective of Guatemalan lawyers working on human rights issues and improving the capacity of the Attorney‑General’s Office to process these cases. This initiative complements the efforts of the UN International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) by advancing representative cases that fall outside CICIG’s mandate and supporting a community legal aid clinic that provides greater access to justice for vulnerable and marginalized populations.
Fund for Implementing National Security and Justice Policies
Announced: 23 June 2011 in Guatemala City, Guatemala
Implementing Partner: UN Development Programme
Cost: $1.2 million
Timeframe:
This fund supports government and civil society project proposals that advance the implementation of the Government of Guatemala’s security and justice system reform plan and the sustainability of CICIG’s work. The primary government institutions involved are the Attorney‑General’s Office and the Interior Ministry, including the Police Reform Commission.
Deployment of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to the Police Reform Commission
Announced: 23 June 2011 in Guatemala City, Guatemala
Implementing Partner: UN Development Programme
Cost: up to $600,000
Timeframe: April 1 2011 – April 1 2012
The deployment of two RCMP officers to Guatemala’s Police Reform Commission supports the work of this key agency in the police reform process.
Support for the Organization of American States Regional Mediation Capacity Building Project
Announced: 23 June 2011 in Guatemala City, Guatemala
Implementing Partner: Organization of American States
Cost: up to $603,000 (includes technical assistance)
Timeframe:
This initiative’s objective is to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Organization of American States’ Department of Democratic Sustainability and Special Missions and its ability to support and conduct mediation initiatives in Central America, the Caribbean and the Andean region. Part of this contribution supports the conflict prevention activities of the OAS Office in the Belize-Guatemala Adjacency Zone.
Independent Policy-Oriented Research and Recommendations on Peace and Security
Announced: 23 June 2011 in Guatemala City, Guatemala
Implementing Partner: International Crisis Group
Cost: up to $600,000
Timeframe
This project supports the International Crisis Group (ICG) in the research and production of independent policy-oriented reports on key peace, justice and security issues for Guatemala as well as Haiti and Colombia. These reports are complemented by high-level advocacy with policy-makers in the Americas and throughout the international community.
Regional Mediation Support Capacity-Building Project
Announced: 5 June 2012 in Cochabamba, Bolivia
Implementing Partner: Organization of American States (OAS) Department of Democratic Sustainability and Special Missions
Funding Announced: $744,000
Timeframe: February 2010 to March 2013
This project strengthens the OAS’s in-house mediation support capacity by placing a Canadian technical expert with the OAS in Washington, D.C. The project creates training opportunities, practical tools and expert networks for mediation on existing and emerging conflict issues in the Americas, especially in the Andean region, the Caribbean and Central America. Canada’s $744,000 contribution to this project builds on a previous commitment of $772,000 announced in 2010. Canada’s cumulative support for this project now totals $1,516,000.
Increasing Security at the Guatemala-Belize Border
Announced: 5 June 2012 in Cochabamba, Bolivia
Implementing partner: OAS Office in the Adjacency Zone
Funding Announced: $1 million
Timeframe: June 2012 to March 2013
This project aims to support Guatemala and Belize in resolving their long-standing territorial dispute. National referendums will be held in both countries on October 6, 2013, on referring the border dispute to the International Court of Justice. The OAS provides impartial accounts to both parties of incidents at the border, and these allow a dialogue based on consistent and neutral information. The project also aims to reinforce security at the border by strengthening the capacity of Guatemalan and Belizean security services (police, military and migration) at the border zone, which is the scene of sporadic violent incidents, as well as a fertile ground for drug trafficking and other organized crime activities.
Global Peace Operations projects in Guatemala
The Global Peace Operations Program (GPOP) contributes to building global capacity for peace operations. This program has provided $2.2 million in project funding in Latin America since 2010.
GPOP funds CREOMPAZ, the Central American Peace Operations Training Centre in Coban, Guatemala which serves as a training center for El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
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