Participation of CECI to the International Conference in Support of Central American Security Strategy
The International Conference in Support of Central American Security Strategy took place in Guatemala from June 20 to 23, 2011. This important meeting was organized by the Central American Integration System (SICA). In partnership with the Research Triangle Institute (RTI), Grupo Ceiba and USAID, our teams from the crime prevention projects in Guatemala and Salvador and a dozen local partners had a booth on citizen security to inform the 1.500 or so participants to the conference.
More than 40 countries were represented at this event, where the presidents from all countries of Central America, Mexico, and Colombia were in attendance, as well as Hillary Clinton, State Secretary, and Diane Ablonczi, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs).
Silvia Cotton, CECI director in Guatemala, and Alan Quinn, program officer for CECI in Salvador, were invited to participate to a meeting with Minister of State Ablonczi, as representatives of Canadian civil society. They discussed how Canada could better contribute to the improvement of security in the region.
Alan Quinn was also interviewed for a World Bank video on the problem of violence in Central America and the best practices in terms of prevention.
The event allowed CECI and its partners to showcase the methodologies used and the results achieved in important programs underway in Guatamela and el Salvador, thanks to the financial support of USAID. For more than ten yeras, CECI has been working in community violence prevention in el Salvador to reduce juvenile delinquency and violence against women.
