Peaceful resolution of land conflict in Guatemala
and Colombia: Working towards new partnerships
for development
Partners
Mercy Corps
JADE (Associated Jurists
for Legal Development)
Guatemala
Fundación Darién
Colombia
Irish Aid
European
Commission
Peaceful resolution of land conflict in Guatemala and Colombia: Working
towards new partnerships for development
Background
Mercy Corps is an international civil
society organization based in U.S.A.
In Guatemala in the early 1990s, MC
identified land conflict as a major
barrier to sustainable and peaceful
development in the post-conflict
context. In response, MC’s team in
Guatemala partnered with a local
NGO, JADE, in 2003 to design and
implement a specialized mediation
program for land disputes in the
northern region of Alta Verapaz. The
successful initiative developed into a
region-wide land conflict resolution
and land rights advocacy program
known as Tierras.
Peaceful resolution of land conflict in Guatemala and Colombia: Working
towards new partnerships for development
Objectives
Innovation
Knowledge transfer: “good practices”
identified during land dispute peaceful
resolution processes carried out in
Guatemala and Colombia.
The Project constitutes an innovative model of
international, Triangular, and South-South
cooperation: Both partners are local civil
society organizations.
Dissemination of ADR tools: dissemination
of tools for the peaceful resolution of land
disputes.
The “provider” country has traditionally been
on the receiving end of international
cooperation rather than a pivotal country.
Integration of different communities: new
partnerships from civil society, minority
ethnic communities and governmental
institutions.
Strengthening the communities involved:
by increasing their knowledge on the
protection of human rights of indigenous
populations and minorities.
The project was unique in that local actors in
Guatemala and Colombia led the local
execution of project actions and support for
communities, while MC facilitated the SouthSouth exchange, strengthened both partner
organizations, and promoted political
advocacy to incorporate project concerns on
land issues in public policies.
Peaceful resolution of land conflict in Guatemala and Colombia: Working
towards new partnerships for development
Results
Applicability
As a result of 10 cross-learning exchanges
(5 in Colombia and 5 in Guatemala), the
Darien Foundation team members were
trained to use technical and procedural
tools to set up two land conflict mediation
centers. At the same time, the crosslearning exchanges served to transfer
knowledge between both actors on the
management of natural resources and
land-use planning processes.
An innovative way of
promoting development
between countries that
share similar problems
and facilitating
collaboration between
governmental and civil
society actors via a
Triangular Cooperation
model.
208 Cases received
137 Cases in process
71 Cases resolved