EUROsociAL, programme funded by the European Union, and the European Forum for Urban Security as operative partner, are supporting the 2014-2034 “National policy for the prevention of violence and for citizen security and peaceful coexistence” of the government of Guatemala by building the capacities of the technical team of the National Unit for the Prevention of Violence (UPVC according to the Spanish acronym), in charge of helping local authorities to design local prevention plans that are coherent with the national policy.

The Guatemalan government introduced this policy early 2014 with the objective of ushering in a culture of violence and crime prevention based on citizen participation, in a context of internal security and peaceful coexistence. This policy has already been adapted locally by over 300 municipalities and 260 mayors have reviewed their operational plans accordingly.

Now the main challenge for the government of Guatemala as well as other Central American countries is to see local prevention plans be implemented locally in all the regions of the country. To this end, the Ministry of Prevention set up a team of more than 100 technicians who support local authorities in the drafting, monitoring and evaluation of their local plans and programmes.

EUROsociAL worked with the UPCV to boost the dissemination of the national policy at the local level, in particular when, in 2014, it organised a study visit in Colombia for a group of Guatemalan mayors, focused on the local management of violence and crime prevention. In 2015, EUROsociAL, through of EFUS, coproduced a workshop targeted at municipal officers in charge of drafting and implementing local plans for violence prevention, citizen security and peaceful coexistence.

This seminar was moderated by Claudia Laub, an expert from Efus' network, Maria Pia Ferreyra, an expert invited by the Argentinian Ministry of Security's National Direction of Professional Training, and several UPVC's experts directed by Henry Albizures. A representative of the European Union's Delegation in Guatemala, Hermona Kadima, also took part in the seminar. She welcomed this initiative and encouraged participants to continue this type of exchange in Guatemala.

More than 70 people took part in the seminar, gaining knowledge on national and international practices that they will be able to use as a source of inspiration for their own municipal prevention programmes.