Governance

19 Aug 2010

In its government plan, the Guatemalan government states that it wishes to strengthen democracy and the rule of law, to implement peace agreements, fight corruption, improve public security and increase social spending.

Current situation in the sector

The current situation in the government sector shows signs of weakness in the justice and security systems and a high level of impunity. Added to this are a high concentration of wealth, and a high degree of inequality, discrimination and exclusion which particularly affect the indigenous population, with women being the most disadvantaged.

This situation of economic, political and social exclusion has led people to seek informal forms of income and fund transfers, amongst other things. According to the EKN's Multi Annual Strategic Plan (MASP) strengthening democracy and the rule of law will be challenging task due to corruption within the judicial system and the police, the power of organized crime and weak state institutions.
 

The Netherlands’ contribution to the governance sector

Guatemala is one of the fragile states on which the Netherlands wishes to focus over the coming years. In line with its MASP, the EKN is investing in two governance objectives. The first is to achieve a fairer distribution and strengthened democracy by the year 2011, paying attention to social cohesion and the most vulnerable groups in society. The second is to initiate a positive trend in compliance with the law and to reduce violence against women and threats to vulnerable groups (women, indigenous peoples and human rights activists).

Starting in 2003, as part of the NPT and NFP programmes, Nuffic has focused on three areas of intervention: security, justice and gender. It has provided support for competence-based police training, development of the criminal and forensic investigation professions and strengthening of the legal science profession. NFP has backed the inclusion of gender in the penal system.

Consultation with actors from academia and civil society has emphasized the need to ensure the continuity of NPT initiatives including modifications based on project evaluations. Additional themes that emerged deal with more recent problems, such as the case of remigrants, training for judges who handle high-risk cases and the prosecution and penalization of trafficking in women and girls.
 

More information

 

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