Annual Performance Report FY2021: Peacebuilding Project

in partnership with subrecipients PartnersGlobal and ProPaz. The project aims to reduce social conflict and violence and strengthen social cohesion in the Western Highlands, with a focus on four general categories: youth, gender, and families; governance; land; and natural resources. The project's main objective is to establish and strengthen inclusive locally-led engagement, dialogue, and mapping to identify, prioritize, and develop action plans addressing sources of and increasing resilience to social conflict and the impacts of COVID-19 on social cohesion. To achieve this, the project focuses on building partnerships between communities, municipalities, and other stakeholders to implement plans prioritized by communities. Implementation of the project's objectives involved three key areas: establishing and strengthening inclusive locally-led engagement, dialogue, and mapping; building partnerships between communities, municipalities, and other stakeholders; and strengthening the capacity of the Government of Guatemala (GoG) and non-governmental organizations to participate in managing, responding to, and resolving local conflicts. The project also focused on social inclusion and gender integration, migration, private sector engagement and cost share/leverage, and operational and project management activities. The project's geographic focus was on the Western Highlands, with a specific emphasis on the departments of Huehuetenango, Quetzaltenango, and San Marcos. The project's timeframe was from May 2018 to November 2024, with the fiscal year 2021 being a critical period for implementation. During FY2021, the project faced challenges related to incremental funding, which affected the project's ability to implement activities as planned. Despite these challenges, the project made significant progress in achieving its objectives, including the establishment of community development councils and municipal violence prevention commissions, as well as the implementation of community-led projects to address social conflict and violence. The project's monitoring and evaluation activities involved the collection of data on project outcomes and impacts, as well as the assessment of project effectiveness and efficiency. The project's results were presented in a narrative format, highlighting the achievements and challenges faced during the fiscal year. The project's collaboration with USAID partners and other USG agencies was also an important aspect of its implementation. The project worked closely with these partners to leverage resources and expertise, and to ensure that the project's activities were aligned with USAID's overall goals and objectives. Overall, the Peacebuilding Project made significant progress in reducing social conflict and violence and strengthening social cohesion in the Western Highlands during FY2021, despite the challenges faced related to incremental funding. The project's results demonstrate the importance of community-led initiatives in addressing social conflict and violence, and highlight the need for continued support and investment in these efforts.