Training for development : the "CLASP" [Caribbean and Latin American Scholarship program] in El Salvador -- final report

CLASP II provided custom-tailored short- and long-term technical, leadership, and academic training in a wide variety of fields, along with an Experience America program, to 1,514 Salvadorans. The training strategy sought to overcome the shortcomings of traditional approaches (e.g, lack of support from sponsoring institutions, the unsuitability of training content for El Salvador, the short duration of the training) and to develop not individual skills but a critical mass of expertise at different levels of a given organization. To this end, CLASP II developed partnerships among USAID, the trainees, and their public and private sponsoring institutions, the last of which proved indispensable in selecting participants and provided valuable follow-up support. The report uses a plethora of case studies to document the impacts of CLASP II in accordance with the Mission"s Strategic Objectives, as follows: (1) Broad-based economic growth. CLASP entrepreneurs, male and female, are running businesses of their own, employing their neighbors, and coordinating government programs that help rural citizens access loans and training for cooperative ventures. (2) Education. A redirection in the latter days of the program from the local to the national level allowed CLASP II training in education to effect change across a wide spectrum in the country"s educational sector. These changes included increasing parental involvement in the classroom, passing new legislation, increasing participants" career opportunities and level of civic participation, effecting pivotal changes at the University of El Salvador, and national educational reform efforts, including decentralization of the Ministry of Education (MINED). (3) Democratization. Through the Central American Peace Scholarship (CAPS) and CLASP II projects, USAID has trained a critical mass of leaders, ranging from grassroots community leaders and representatives of NGOs and other civic organizations, through municipal mayors, to members of the National Assembly. These "change agents" are now able to strengthen democratic processes in El Salvador. Impacts have focused on municipal administration and development, and decentralization of the administration of public services. (4) Health care. A new vision of the public health care service delivery system exists in El Salvador. At the ministerial, hospital, and medical center level, the process of decentralization has greatly affected not only administrative and financial procedures, but also treatment and service strategies. The linchpins of the new system are a "client-centered" approach, an emphasis on preventive rather than curative medicine, a realization of the importance of collaboration with NGOs, closer linkages with community-based NGOs and thereby with communities themselves (often in more remote rural areas), and increased use by public sector agencies of NGOs" clinics and other services. (5) Environment. CLASP II training in environmental and natural resource management (NRM) has clearly made a difference. The Government of El Salvador now recognizes the multi-sectoral nature of NRM, acknowledging the importance of both green and brown issues. A national environmental strategy has been completed, and rules, laws, and regulatory mechanisms are being put into place. The average citizen"s awareness of environmental issues has increased, and numerous contributions to an improved environment have been made by CLASP II participants, including those who received only general environmental awareness training in the follow-up program. (6) National reconciliation. Case studies and stories of the results of applied training are presented, illustrating the benefits derived by residents in ex-conflictive zones from participant-initiated commercial and development projects. The cases focus on the four intermediate results of the Mission"s Special Objective in this areas (reactivation of the factors of production, reestablishing access to basic social services and infrastructure, building local democratic institutions and increasing civic participation, reintegration of ex-combatants) as well as on USAID"s comprehensive plan for El Salvador"s socioeconomic development and recovery from the war. (7) Women. Profiles are presented of women representing a wide cross-section of Salvadoran society: entrepreneurs, NGO directors, community activists, politicians, and social workers. Some are highly educated paid professionals; many others are grassroots-level community volunteers with little previous preparation. What these women all share is a renewed commitment and enhanced potential to effect significant change within their communities. They are thus prepared through the training approach employed by the CAPS/CLASP model, which has focused on imparting useful technical skills, while simultaneously developing women"s self-esteem, personal coping mechanisms, and problem-solving skills. Although this attention to personal development has proved beneficial for all participants, it has had perhaps a more profound effect on women participants. The report includes several lessons learned on the importance of host country ownership of projects, program design and management, and CLASP sustainability.