Next to the market of Santo Domingo, where many indigenous women are selling their crafts and textile products, I found the office of Enlace Civil.
Enlace Civil is an association that grew out of a request from the local communities in Chiapas in 1996 to become a link between them and the national and international civil society. Enlace has worked together with the formation of the Good Governance Councils (Juntas de Buen Gobierno), since 2003, to support the different projects/programs the communities have planned for themselves.
Contrary to many organizations I have visited, Enlace has a different system in supporting communities. Enlace itself does not implement, nor offer projects/programs to the communities. They consider themselves to be at the service of the communities. The communities have been running their own programs in health, education, economic development, etc. and these programs are then communicated to Enlace Civil so that they can support them administratively. The staff team of Enlace Civil have been mostly chosen by the Good Governance Councils themselves and they work voluntarily. Enlace exists to support the strengthening of this alternative governance to better address the needs of the communities.
I met with Rosaluz, the staff member responsible for the "caracol" (regional center) called Morelia. There are 5 main caracoles in Chiapas. The Good Governance Council in the Morelia caracol has 66 members (33 women and 33 men), where each week 11 members are rotated to be in charge of a program or project in the Council. Currently, these Council members in Morelia are in their third year. (Members are selected to be in the Council for a term of 3 years). Next year the Council will be receiving new members. To support the new members, Enlace Civil will facilitate training and follow-up visits with them to ensure that they have all the capacity to govern as the Council for the next three years.
After the first year, Rosaluz will continue to follow up with the Council members but no longer at such an intensive rate. One of the things she has supported after the first year has been the systemization of the Council's evaluations and its organizational structure.
Rosaluz shared enthusiastically with me, "It's actually been an exciting experience to do this because the structure envisioned is already in place. Many time, one writes about the vision of an organization that one wants to achieve. Well, in this case, the communities have already formed their vision over the years: the formation of their own government structure, so now I'm just writing down or documenting their own governance they have created."
This week I will be accompanying Rosaluz to meet the Council members in the Morelia caracol and cooperative members within the communities. I'm looking forward to meeting them!
Kat
Enlace Civil is an association that grew out of a request from the local communities in Chiapas in 1996 to become a link between them and the national and international civil society. Enlace has worked together with the formation of the Good Governance Councils (Juntas de Buen Gobierno), since 2003, to support the different projects/programs the communities have planned for themselves.
Contrary to many organizations I have visited, Enlace has a different system in supporting communities. Enlace itself does not implement, nor offer projects/programs to the communities. They consider themselves to be at the service of the communities. The communities have been running their own programs in health, education, economic development, etc. and these programs are then communicated to Enlace Civil so that they can support them administratively. The staff team of Enlace Civil have been mostly chosen by the Good Governance Councils themselves and they work voluntarily. Enlace exists to support the strengthening of this alternative governance to better address the needs of the communities.
I met with Rosaluz, the staff member responsible for the "caracol" (regional center) called Morelia. There are 5 main caracoles in Chiapas. The Good Governance Council in the Morelia caracol has 66 members (33 women and 33 men), where each week 11 members are rotated to be in charge of a program or project in the Council. Currently, these Council members in Morelia are in their third year. (Members are selected to be in the Council for a term of 3 years). Next year the Council will be receiving new members. To support the new members, Enlace Civil will facilitate training and follow-up visits with them to ensure that they have all the capacity to govern as the Council for the next three years.
After the first year, Rosaluz will continue to follow up with the Council members but no longer at such an intensive rate. One of the things she has supported after the first year has been the systemization of the Council's evaluations and its organizational structure.
Rosaluz shared enthusiastically with me, "It's actually been an exciting experience to do this because the structure envisioned is already in place. Many time, one writes about the vision of an organization that one wants to achieve. Well, in this case, the communities have already formed their vision over the years: the formation of their own government structure, so now I'm just writing down or documenting their own governance they have created."
This week I will be accompanying Rosaluz to meet the Council members in the Morelia caracol and cooperative members within the communities. I'm looking forward to meeting them!
Kat
Labels: Enlace Civil, good government
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