Strengthening Local Governance: How Guatemala’s Rural Communities are Leading Conflict Resolution

^{UNESCO |?Closing of the Diploma in Conflict Transformation for a Culture of Peace and Human Rights with government officials who participated in the training.}

September 2024

“In Quiché, we have many conflicts, for example over the use of natural resources, land conflicts, and conflicts related to the functioning of the government. We have a lot of experience in sitting down and attending dialogue roundtables, but these are processes. The problem we have is that in a crisis, in a road blockade, or in an occupation of a building or a company, for example, we need to be better prepared to quickly address crisis situations,” said Carlos Ríos, Thematic Advisor for the Departmental Government in Quiché, Guatemala.??

In Guatemala, violence, impunity, and corruption remain entrenched, compounded by deep social inequalities, structural discrimination, and the exclusion of the indigenous population. These challenges have fueled ongoing conflicts over land and natural resources, driven humanitarian crises due to food insecurity, and spurred high levels of human mobility.????

Lucía Xirum Equilá, Leader of the Coordinating Board of Women's Organizations in Quiché said, “There are always conflicts, there are particular interests, different visions, different thoughts, and if we don't understand that, it can lead to conflict,” she stated.???

^{Caroline Trutmann, PBF Consultant |?Portrait of?Lucía Xirum Equilá, Leader of the Coordinating Board of Women's Organizations, Department of Quiché.?}

In response, the Government and UN partners in Guatemala worked together on the project “Consolidating infrastructures to sustain peace.” Funded by the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) and implemented by UNDP, UN Women and UNESCO in partnership with the Government, the project has aimed to strengthen the tools and capacities of government institutions, civil society organizations, and indigenous authorities – especially indigenous women leaders – within Guatemala’s national peace infrastructures.???

With an initial budget of $1.5 million, the project has worked over the past two years to create conditions for consensus-building and inclusive citizen participation in Huehuetenango and Quiché, two rural departments heavily affected by social conflicts. As the new government took office in early 2024, they requested an extension of the project to ensure continuity and explore the potential for scaling up its impact while supporting the development of new strategies for dialogue and conflict resolution.???

The project trained over 120 officials from public institutions and civil society leaders in Huehuetenango and Quiche offering them a Diploma in Peace Culture and Conflict Transformation. This training enhanced the knowledge and capacities of key actors involved in conflict resolution at the departmental and local levels. Additionally, the project provided specialized training to indigenous women leaders from Ixil region in Quiché, focusing on political participation, leadership, and human rights. As a result, 81 women leaders from the municipalities of Cotzal and Chajul now hold stronger positions within indigenous authority structures – 50 percent of newly elected indigenous authorities in Cotzal are women.???

^{Caroline Trutmann, PBF Consultant |?Portrait of Carlos Ríos, Thematic Advisor, Departmental Governance, Department of Quiché.}

Carlos Ríos, an Advisor within the Governor’s Office of Quiché said, “The knowledge that we have acquired via the Peace Culture and Conflict Transformation Diploma has helped us to better address crises on the ground, to implement crisis response teams and to better coordinate with those institutions most relevant to the conflicts.”??

Luis René Valdez, National Civil Police, San Andrés Sajcabajá, Department of Quiché said, “There was a specific module that caught my attention, which was the approach to conflict and human rights. From there, my perception changed. I identify more with the citizens, analyze, and communicate better the information. I always try to be empathetic with citizens, because they often express their discontent for a reason.”??

^{Caroline Trutmann, PBF Consultant |?Portrait of Luis René Valdez, Chief of the National Civil Police Substation in San Andrés Sajcabajá, Department of Quiché.}

The project also equipped two departmental conflict resolution forums?– the MEDESACH in Huehuetenango, and the CODESAC in Quiche – with technical tools to improve conflict mapping, analysis, and resolution through dialogue. These efforts have fostered better inter-institutional coordination and strengthened the peace infrastructure in these predominantly indigenous regions.????

The project’s success lies in piloting a model for supporting peace infrastructures in two rural, predominantly indigenous, departments with high levels of social conflicts. This model, which includes capacity building at the individual, institutional and inter-interinstitutional levels, empowers civil society and indigenous authorities – particularly indigenous women – as key actors in conflict resolution.???

Kathelin Sic, Student Leader, Landivarian Movement, Department of Quiché said, “After the diploma course, I can say that it changed me a lot, it has made me more realistic, more mature with respect to the social problems in my country and my community, and to not take things personally. The diploma course has helped me by teaching me tools that I can use in different spaces.”??

^{Caroline Trutmann, PBF Consultant |?Portrait of Kathelin Sic, Student Leader, in the library of Rafael Landívar University – Landivar Movement, Department of Quiché.}

The project has supported MEDESACH and CODESAC in addressing various conflicts at the local level. For example, it has helped MEDESACH design an inclusive dialogue process for the peaceful resolution of a territorial boundary conflict between the municipalities of Chiantla and Todos los Santos in the largely indigenous department of Huehuetenango. This support has included feasibility assessments for the dialogue, as well as co-designing a process that involves strategy formulation, setting objectives, establishing timelines, selecting participants, and identifying and mobilizing human and economic resources. A successful dialogue process is now underway, with an impartial topography expert working with both parties to build consensus and facilitate a final agreement on the territorial boundaries.

Lucía Xirum Equilá, Leader of the Coordinating Board of Women's Organizations, Department of Quiché said, “This process motivated me a lot, for example to say: “Okay, how can I turn that conflict into an opportunity?” And then to resolve it in an appropriate way.” ?

Aligned with the priorities of the new government, this model will contribute significantly to the decentralization of conflict management and resolution efforts, empowering departmental governors? offices to take a leading role. The PBF will continue to support these objectives during the next 18 -month phase of the project.

Kathelin Sic, Student Leader, Landivarian Movement, Department of Quiché said, “Because we are changing, the world is evolving, perspectives are evolving, and having a new kind of leadership helps us to be more aware of reality, but not just from what is traditional, but beyond that. Let’s say, that youth are able to participate and say: ‘I am a leader, I can guide my community, I can be an agent of change.’ So, we need a renewal of leadership for things to flow, and to build peace based on our life experiences.” ?

^{Mesa Departamental de Atención a la Conflictividad Social.??}

^{Comisión Departamental de Seguridad y Atención a la Conflictividad Social.??}

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