543 leaders trained in citizenship and awareness of Peruvian reality

(Lima, November 27, 2007).- A total of 543 leaders were trained in civic-democratic values and citizenship in the framework of the "Leadership for the Transformation Program" promoted by the Andean Development Corporation in alliance with the Institute of Government of the University of San Martín de Porres (USMP).

 

The closing ceremony of the program was led by the Minister of Labor and Employment Promotion Susana Pinilla, along with CAF director of Governance and Technical Cooperation Elvira Lupo; Peruvian Vice Minister of Educational Management Idel Vexler; CAF representative in Peru Eleonora Siva Pardo; and Institute of Government director Javier Tantaleán.

 

For the second year running, Lima was host to the closure of the "Leadership for the Transformation Program" in Peru, which involved training in the cities of Andahuaylas, Cuzco, Huancayo, Huaraz, Ica, Iquitos, Lima, Sullana, Tarapoto, Trujillo and Puno. During the year, training programs were given to representatives of social, cultural, indigenous, campesino and labor union organizations together with associations of micro- and small-sized enterprises.

 

Elvira Lupo, CAF director of Governance and Technical Cooperation, said the program began in 2007 under the agreement signed in April this year by both institutions.

 

The "Leadership for the Transformation Program" began as a CAF initiative in Colombia in 2002 and was successfully replicated in Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela and Ecuador. Its aim is to identify natural leaders in the region and lay the basis for a new leadership style, enriching their system of values and equipping them with tools to help them assume responsibilities for future leadership with an ethical and civic-democratic sense, in line with the reality of their context," the CAF director said.

 

The strategic value the program lies in the importance of training as a mechanism for strengthening democratic governance, and improving the conditions of citizens and their surroundings, she added.

 

Tantaleán Arbulú thanked CAF for the confidence placed in the USMP Institute of Government as executing agency of the program for the second year running. "If it had not been for CAF we would not have had the opportunity to train leaders based on pluralism and academic rigor," he said.

 

The main objectives of the program are to identify, select and train natural leaders in an effort to generate a transforming leadership, which knows how to manage tools and possesses the technical capacity to detect the needs of the community, and formulate actions that contribute to better exercise of citizenship.

 

Last year, 485 natural leaders from nine regions were successfully trained after being selected for integrated formation of human beings to act as transmitters of knowledge and values, in favor of the progress, freedom and equality of all people, which will lead to acceptance of plurality and interculturality.

 

The Leadership for Transformation Program responds to one of the CAF lines of action in the area of governance. By the end of 2007, 7,216 leaders in the five countries of the Andean region will have received training.