Partners/Conciencia civic education

Partners will collaborate with CONCIENCIA Argentina, a woman-founded and woman-directed organization. CONCIENCIA will provide TA and training for education in democracy and civic arts for civic organizations and the public, particularly for women. The project will include a Small Projects Fund for the development of civic education programs. Amendment of 8/17/95 extends PACD 2 years to 8/2000 and radically expands the project. Under the amended project, Partners, assisted by the Kettering Foundation, will strengthen the capacity of 5 major civic education organizations -- Conciencia and Poder Ciudadano in Argentina, Universidad de los Andes in Colombia, Instituto de Investigacion y Autoformacion Politica (INIAP) in Guatemala, and Participa in Chile -- to provide TA and training to civil society NGOs throughout the region. Each of the 5 NGOs will help 4 other NGOs to design and implement civic education programs, foster citizen participation in the electoral process, monitor local and national government performance, and promote local philanthropy. Outreach efforts to an additional 60 NGOs are also planned. Specific targets are to: institutionalize the National Issues Forum (NIF) methodology, which was developed by the Kettering Foundation to help bring diverse sectors of society together; conduct leadership training for youth and adults; develop information systems profiling political candidates and issues in at least 5 countries; develop a civic education curriculum which will be used in at least 9 primary and secondary schools in Chile, Colombia, and Guatemala; increase interaction with the corporate sector; create a database of best practices in citizen participation; and develop models of local philanthropy. (PD-ABM-682)