Programs to improve the representation of indigenous people and women in Guatemala’s government and to reform laws governing elections and political parties are expected to be among the benefits of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed Sept. 24 by NDI and the Guatemalan Congress.

The agreement was signed by Roberto Alejos, president of the Guatemalan Congress, and Eduardo Núñez, NDI’s resident director in Guatemala. Addendums were signed by four chairs of congressional committees that will be working on the targeted areas.

The agreement is a result of a new interagency affairs office that is helping the congress coordinate with international organizations, such as NDI, Alejos said. One of the initiatives that NDI will support as a result of the MOU is the design of a new legislative studies institute.

“Guatemala lacks a research unit [in congress] and the idea is that this institute will fill that void,” Núñez said. This commitment comes from the basic premise that the stability of democracy depends on the ability of institutions to respond to the needs of citizens, and guarantee the basic rights of all groups, especially those that have the lowest levels of representation, he said at the ceremony.

The congressional organizations that are involved are the committee on indigenous peoples, the women’s committee, the technical assistance committee, the electoral affairs committee and the inter-institutional working group.

In working with the committee on indigenous people, for example, NDI will help the committee define and advance an indigenous legislative agenda. Among the first activities will be a training session on political negotiation skills.

The Institute will support women’s committee efforts to reform the election law to require gender parity on candidate lists and in public office, among other initiatives. NDI will also work on election and political party law reform with the electoral affairs committee.

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Pictured Above: Otilia Lux (l to r), member of the committee on women and the committee on indigenous peoples; Gudy Rivera, chair of the technical assistance committee; Roberto Alejos, president of congress; Eduardo Núñez, NDI’s resident director in Guatemala; and Ovidio Monzón, chair of the congressional modernization committee at the signing ceremony (Photo courtesy of the Guatemalan Congress)

Published October 1, 2010