519 Peruvian leaders trained in civic values, citizenship and leadership

(Lima, November 18, 2009).- A total of 519 leaders were trained in civic-democratic values and citizenship as part of the IV Leadership for the Transformation Program, promoted by CAF in alliance with the Institute of Government of the University of San Martín de Porres (USMP).

 

At the closing ceremony, the participants were Nidia Vílchez Yucra, minister of Women and Social Development; Eleonora Silva Pardo, CAF director representative in Peru; Gloria Betancourt, coordinator of the CAF Leadership Program; Jaime Palacios, director of the USMP Institute of Government; Carlos Pando, director of the Peruvian International Cooperation Agency (APCI); and Susana Pinilla, director of the Institute of Development of the Informal Sector (IDESI).

 

For the fourth year running, Lima was the venue for the closure of the "Leadership for the Transformation Program" in Peru. This year, the Program trained representatives of social, cultural, indigenous, campesino and labor organizations and associations of micro and small enterprises in Chachapoyas (Amazonas), Puquio (Ayacucho), Callao, Huancavelica, Huánuco, Chiclayo (Lambayeque), Huacho, Lima, Puerto Maldonado (Madre de Dios), Puno and Tacna.

 

"Leadership for the Transformation" program began as a CAF initiative in Colombia in 2002 and has been successfully replicated in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

 

The initiative identifies natural leaders in the region and prepares the base for a new style of leadership by enriching their value systems and equipping them with the tools they need to assume the responsibilities of future leadership with ethical, civic and democratic sensibility, in accord with the reality of their context.

 

The program's strategic value lies in the importance of training as a mechanism for strengthening democratic governance and improving the conditions of citizens and their environment.

 

The main objectives are to identify, select and train natural leaders as a means of creating a transforming leadership, which has the tools and technical capacity to detect the needs of the community, and formulate actions which improve their exercise of their citizenship

 

This year the program covered implementation of a set of projects presented by the participants, financed by the Peruvian International Cooperation Agency (APCI) after a competition with entries from 66 projects. The winners were Solid Waste Management (Amazonas); Bird Breeding (Chulo) (Puerto Maldonado ); Transformation of Constructive Technologies (Huacho); and Development of Capacities in the Tourism Sector (Moquegua).

 

Last year, 572 natural leaders from 12 selected regions received integrated training to act as transmitters of knowledge and values in favor of progress, freedom and equality for all, leading to the acceptance of plurality and interculturality.

 

By the end of 2009, a total of 14,411 leaders from 2,186 municipalities in the five countries of the region will have been trained by the Leadership for the Transformation Program, which has transcendental significance in strengthening democratic governance since it reinforces in natural leaders a vision of country and civic-democratic values and supplements their knowledge with tools and instruments so that they can exercise their citizenship and community action with responsibility, integrity and awareness of the reality of their country.