Regional Partnership For Decentralization and Local Governance In the Central America

The program is designed to provide training and technical assistance to local governments and community groups, in coordination with national police efforts and other municipal-based programs. During the period of July to September 2012, ICMA conducted several trips to Central America to work with local governments, law enforcement, and civil society representatives on municipal-based violence prevention. Trip No. 31, led by Carlos Loría-Chaves, took place from July 2 to 7, 2012, in Panama, where the team worked with committees to prepare for a trip to Panama City and a regional workshop for delegates from Panama and El Salvador. Trip No. 32, which took place from July 30 to August 4, 2012, in Panama, involved a technical workshop on community policing as part of the CityLinks exchange and a regional workshop and national violence prevention forum. The program also conducted CityLinks exchanges, which brought together municipal officials from Central America and the United States to share best practices in violence prevention. One such exchange took place in Arlington, Texas, from July 30 to August 3, 2012, where three officers from the Arlington, Texas Police Department traveled to Panama to deliver workshops on the Explorer Program and police/media relations. The team also observed successful crime reduction initiatives in Panama City, including an interactive traffic safety course for children. The program's website, www.amuprev.org, continues to be updated daily with news and articles related to municipal-based violence prevention. Quarterly bulletins are prepared, posted on the website and on Facebook, and sent by email to over 1,700 stakeholders in the region. ICMA has also revised the Toolkit to eliminate earlier references to IDELCA, incorporate new pictures from the Partnerships, and include additional videos on DVDs. The Toolkit is currently being translated into English. The program has developed a series of 10 success stories that document the impact of the Partnership on target municipalities in El Salvador and Panama. These success stories have been completed, sent to USAID, and placed on the website. The program's website traffic statistics for the quarter show a total of 1,783 visits, with 61.13% of visitors accessing news, 15.65% accessing experiences of municipalities, and 5.33% accessing publications. The program's objective of establishing regional peer networks and strengthening municipal coordination mechanisms is being achieved through the integration of the website and other information and communication technologies. The program's website continues to be a valuable resource for stakeholders in the region, providing news, articles, and success stories related to municipal-based violence prevention.