El Salvador: How Beauty is Confronting a Beast

November 30, 2023

1 min read

El Salvador has some of the highest rates of violence against women and girls in Central America. One NGO in Santa Ana, El Salvador, is leveraging beauty salons to reach women with messages of empowerment, self-care and more as a way to counter violence against women and girls.

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Transition Initiatives is supporting the effort in El Salvador. The comments contained in the video are those of the interviewees and do not reflection to opinion or position of the U.S. government.

Q&A with the COP: How Tejiendo Paz is promoting lasting peace in Guatemala

September 21, 2023

By Sara Barker

3 min read

Conflict, political crises, democratic backsliding and violent extremism are among the many complex challenges that are barriers to peace. In Guatemala, the USAID Peacebuilding Project — Proyecto Tejiendo Paz in Spanish — works in the Western Highlands to support peace through conflict mitigation.

At the community level, project-trained conflict mediators and community facilitators identify causes of conflict and carry out action plans to mitigate them and resolve existing disputes. At a broader level, the project builds the capacity of departmental and national governments to better understand and resolve local conflict and improve communication with communities.

Chief of Party Sara Barker reflects on how the project is making strides on reducing conflict in the region and setting up local actors to maintain their progress.

How is the Peacebuilding Project working to promote peace in Guatemala?

The presence of conflict generally indicates that a community’s needs are not being met. The key to promoting peaceful and inclusive societies is in transforming conflicts into opportunities for development and preventing conflicts from escalating into violence.

Understanding the underlying causes of conflicts is critical to transforming conflicts into positive change for communities. Communities themselves are best positioned to understand the often complex and interrelated sources of conflict. They are also best positioned to identify potential solutions, which is key for sustainability in peacebuilding.

What actors and institutions are partnering to lead this work?

The Peacebuilding Project’s main partners include indigenous authorities, women and youth. The project actively looks for opportunities to connect communities with other actors and resources — such as municipal authorities, local civil society, the private sector and national government institutions — in promoting their peacebuilding priorities.

What is one partner or activity from the project that you think will still be bringing about change in 10 years?

The Peacebuilding Project must work hand-in-hand with the Government of Guatemala at all levels (community, municipal, departmental and national) to leave behind sustainable results that continue to improve social cohesion and reduce social conflict long after the project ends.

One key strategy for doing this has been to train delegates of the Presidential Commission for Peace and Human Rights (Comisión de Paz y Derechos Humanos, COPADEH) in conflict mitigation and link them to the Departmental Commissions on Security and Conflict Management (Comisión Departamental de Seguridad y Atención de Conflictos, CODESACs) who are responsible for identifying and addressing conflict in their territories.

COPADEH delegates who participated in the trainings took their learnings to the CODESACs and utilized them in the construction of the Departmental Strategies for Conflict Management (Estrategias Departamentales de Atención al Conflicto, EDACs), which serve as a documented conflict mitigation route to guide departmental and municipal governments in a timely and peaceful response to conflict.

All EDACs from the five intervention departments have been revised and/or updated, giving sustainability to the work the Peacebuilding Project has completed during the last few years.

Q&A: How a program in Honduras supports core ideals of Democracy Day

September 14, 2023

3 min read

Democracy Day is a time to reflect on both the benefits and the challenges to the institutions that ensure such freedoms. A plethora of organizations have indices that chart openness, fairness and other democratic values, and these measurements are must-haves as societies determine the steps to improve their situation.

Creative has extensive experience implementing programs that strengthen the pillars of democracy and the institutions that support them. In Honduras, for example, the five-year, USAID-supported Sembrando Esperanza program has three basic objectives: Building social cohesion; improving local service delivery; and providing a base of evidence to create strong public policies and advocacy.

Creative spoke with three field staff members working on Sembrando Esperanza about how their program supports the ideals of democracy in Honduras. The following is a selection of their edited answers.

How is Sembrando Esperanza engaging local actors to strengthen democratic norms, values and institutions?

Robyn Braverman, Chief of Party: We have to engage both local actors and national actors to achieve our objectives, and we’re doing that by providing evidence. For example, we have a survey about children and youth perceptions around migration, violence and victimization that has been used to inform local activities and programs. We’re now using work from one of our consortium members, Asociación para una Sociedad más Justa (ASJ), to look at how we’re strengthening mechanisms to prevent violence and migration at the municipal level. And finally, we’re disseminating this information and engaging and creating new relationships and new styles of working.

Lesbia Alvarado, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist: We are conducting municipal-level diagnostics through our partners and identifying areas for improvement and alliances so institutions can provide prevention and general community services, which in itself is a democratic strengthening of making institutions work for their citizens and respond to citizen needs. One of the influences we have been able to perceive is the instability of the government. This is a constant challenge in all our project interventions.

What are the challenges to this work?

Marcelo Villalvir, Director of Migration: One of the major challenges as we implement this program is the weakening of social cohesion that is a result of the high levels of violence in the communities where we are working. Organized crime and the high levels of violence it brings are undermining community cohesion as residents resist participating in community activities out of fear. Their lack of participation does not foster a culture of democracy and citizen engagement. Another aspect that affects the issue of democracy is the high level of corruption that have permeated the public institutions of the country and the democratic system. How to restore hope to the citizens is a big challenge. We must empower them so that the strengthened democratic system in the country brings about changes, truth and improvements in the living conditions of its population.

Where have you seen progress in strengthening the engagement and resilience of communities to participate and partner with government? What are you learning about building trust between communities and government officials?

Robyn Braverman, Chief of Party: It takes a lot of handholding. Sometimes it takes a lot of shifts in how we see ourselves, the role we play and the power paradigm. We are shifting. And, as much as we want results right away, it takes time because building trust takes time. For example, if you haven’t liked your neighbor and you haven’t trusted your mayor, but suddenly you’re asked to do so, it’s logical that it will take time to trust them. Especially in our case with the police, that’s going to take a lot of time. So, I think it’s giving ourselves the patience and grace to learn from what we’ve done and to make it better based on new evidence and to remain flexible.

Lesbia Alvarado, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist: Fortunately, in the first year, we signed agreements with eight municipalities. That is a significant advancement. Trust-building activities have also been carried out at the community level, involving leaders and community members and Sembrando Esperanza. It is creating those community bonds that we know will turn into resilience over these five years.

Elevating Youth Entrepreneurship in Comitancillo, Guatemala

August 6, 2023

1 min read

Facing limited job opportunities, youth in Comitancillo, Guatemala, are taking matters into their own hands. They have organized themselves to establish business ventures that allow them to generate income in the communities of Aldea Chamaque, Aldea Ixmoco, Caserío Los Bujes, Aldea Piedra de Fuego, Aldea Tuichilupe and del Caserío El Jícaro.

The USAID-funded Central America Regional Initiative (CARI) Guatemala is supporting the Asociación Maya Mam de Investigación y Desarrollo (AMMID) to provide skills training in the areas management, customer service and finance, in addition to opportunities for exchange among peers and a local fair that allows the youth entrepreneurs to promote their services and ideas.

The opinions expressed in this video are of the interviewees and may not necessarily reflect the position of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Produced by Creative Associates International for USAID.

Creative one of eight implementers awarded peacebuilding IDIQ

June 13, 2023

By Ashley Williams

2 min read

Creative Associates International is one of eight implementers awarded a five-year, $800 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract to improve peacebuilding and violence-prevention efforts in fragile, conflict or violence-affected countries.

“Creative has a long history of implementing peacebuilding projects in some of the most challenging environments,” says President & CEO Leland Kruvant. “We look forward to bringing our conflict and post-conflict expertise to the table to continue supporting USAID’s peace and stabilization work around the world.”

Conflict, political crises, democratic backsliding and violent extremism are among the many complex challenges that are barriers to peace. By placing communities at the center of peacebuilding efforts, Creative focuses on building local leadership, elevating diverse voices, establishing trust among residents and channeling resources as communities address underlying causes of conflict and pursue positive change.

“Peacebuilding and violence prevention are critical to achieving stable, resilient communities and regions where people can live safe, full lives,” says Sharon Van Pelt, Vice President of Creative’s Communities in Transition Division. “Centering communities and local leadership in the peacebuilding process is integral to our approach.”

USAID is eager to use the Programming for Prevention and Peacebuilding mechanism in support of the Global Fragility Act to re-imagine how to develop and carryout peacebuilding initiatives in five key locations — Haiti, Mozambique, Libya, Papua New Guinea and Coastal West Africa — and then take those experiences to other at-risk and conflict areas.

“An emphasis in these regions, using systems and evidence-based approaches, has the potential to put U.S. resources to work in a more strategic way and to address the root causes of violence and instability,” says Mystelle Ruble, Creative’s Transitions Practice Area Director. “This is an exciting opportunity for implementers and USAID to build the knowledge base on what works well and how we can apply it elsewhere.”

The Programming for Prevention and Peacebuilding IDIQ was awarded through the Center for Conflict and Violence Prevention at USAID’s Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization. The IDIQ has a ceiling of $800 million during five years. Each one of the IDIQ holders compete for task orders issued by USAID.

Learn more about Creative’s extensive peacebuilding work here.

Indigenous leaders in Guatemala support returning migrants

May 25, 2023

1 min read

The USAID-funded Tejiendo Paz (Peacebuilding) project works in the Western Highlands of Guatemala to support peace initiatives. Delia Catú, a Maya Kaqchikel woman, works for Association Pop Noj to help youth reintegrate into their communities of origin after trying to migrate abroad. Delia discusses the factors that determine if people will stay in their communities, such as being able to depend on basic services.

Tejiendo Paz works with indigenous leaders like Delia to support the topics they prioritize in their own communities and build their capacity to collectively address the issues.

Youth supporting youth in Guatemala

May 25, 2023

1 min read

The USAID-funded Tejiendo Paz (Peacebuilding) project works in the Western Highlands of Guatemala to support peace initiatives. Ana Cristina Toma, a social worker and student, is a member of the Youth Voices for Peace Network. Here she discusses the factors in her community that influence irregular migration among youth and how family, education and societal efforts help young people remain in their home communities. “To strengthen the factors that make a young person stay in their communities, you must strengthen the spaces in which they are involved,” she says.

Nothing about us, without us

May 2, 2023

By Erin Treinen

5 min read

There were smiles and excitement as 12 Guatemalan civil society organizations arrived at the event center and prepared to connect with their peers at the Peacebuilding Project Partners Retreat. Between project staff and 12 civil society organization representatives, 74 people traveled from five departments in the Western Highlands and Guatemala City to discuss how they can promote peace in their communities.

The retreat was designed to achieve teambuilding, learning, and strategic collaboration, contributing to a shared vision and increased coordination between the Peacebuilding Project—a goal that was met according to participants like Estuardo Aguilón Garcia, Peacebuilding Project Community Facilitator for Comitancillo.

“This experience allowed us to optimize our work in the field and respond to what the communities have asked the project for support with,” says Aguilón.

The Peacebuilding Project, which is known as Tejiendo Paz in Spanish and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, works to reduce social conflict and violence and strengthen social cohesion in the Western Highlands of Guatemala.

The project works with groups that are most impacted by conflict, yet are often left out of the peacebuilding process, including women, youth, indigenous peoples and LGBTQI+ individuals. Tejiendo Paz facilitates spaces for the substantive participation of all members of society in defining their own development priorities. This includes engaging with local civil society organizations that are led by members of these different groups.

Learning, sharing, collaborating

The Peacebuilding Project is designed to be locally led and community driven. Project community facilitators, who are from the region where the project works, receive in-depth trainings on how to work with communities to develop and implement their own actions plans that address and transform sources of conflict into opportunities for development.

To effectively respond to community priorities, it is critical to engage local organizations that have a breadth of knowledge and experience working in the local context and who are trusted by local leaders.

Participants in Tejiendo Paz’s recent two-day retreat exchanged experiences and local knowledge around conflict mitigation, violence prevention and peacebuilding. They shared their plans and engaged in an in-depth discussion on the project’s strategy for identifying, addressing and mitigating electoral conflict, trainings on best-practices and roundtable discussions around collaboration.

“With this exchange, partner organizations shared information which will help us to better implement in the field through collaboration,” explains Mary de Leon, Peacebuilding Project Community Facilitator for Totonicapán.

Localization in action

The Peacebuilding Project operationalizes USAID’s localization strategy by employing an implementation staff that is from the area where they are implementing, partnering with local civil society organizations, and seeking council and guidance from advisory groups, including ancestral authorities.

The recent two-day exchange increased alliances and effective coordination between local project staff and partners. De Leon shared that, during these roundtable discussions, she connected with representatives from the Association of Guatemalan Exporters (AGEXPORT) who gave her guidelines and recommendations to effectively structure the women’s groups she works with so they can successfully carry out AGEXPORT projects.

De Leon was particularly interested in this opportunity as she works with many women’s groups including one from Pachoc, Totonicapán who recently learned how to embroider traditional blouse (known as huipiles) through a nine-session course. De Leon plans on facilitating a working relationship between this women’s group and AGEXPORT.

Likewise, civil society organizations were able to connect with one another to learn about the ways they are working to reduce conflict, utilizing different approaches and reaching distinct populations. During roundtable discussions, they also had the opportunity to visualize how their work overlaps and the ways they can collaborate to increase impact.

We Are Diverse Youth in Action (SOMOS), Vidas Paralelas and LAMBDA, three civil society organizations that work in LGBTQI+ human rights, all attended the event and were able to connect with one another to strengthen their working relationship and support one another.

“The activities were very insightful and helped us to build relationships with each other,” says Eduardo Aguilar, Community Promoter for SOMOS.

“During these two days, we created community together which strengthens us as a team and the activities we learned are ones that will make us more effective when we implement in the communities where we work,” he says.

Knowledge of local language, culture and dynamics make all the difference

Promoting the inclusion of local leadership and civil society organizations in decisions around how programs are implemented is key to sustainability, especially in a multicultural, multilingual country like Guatemala.

“Working with organizations that have credibility and local recognition, as well as the knowledge of unique local characteristics, culture and dynamics warrants more trust and acceptance from the communities as well as indigenous and state authorities,” says Luz Lainfiesta, Deputy Director of the Peacebuilding Project and development expert from Guatemala.

“This approach has a great impact because our implementation team ensures cultural relevance and carries out local practices. In addition, working to strengthen local organizations increases sustainability and project outcomes, far into the future,” says Lainfiesta.

This is not just Lainfiesta’s opinion.

An external evaluation conducted in 2022 found that the Peacebuilding Project’s community facilitators like De Leon and Aguilón can facilitate strong relationships within each community, because they are from the areas they serve, speak the regional language and are part of the local culture.

“Exchanges like this one provide important opportunities in which participants mutually share and learn and at the same time, create bridges of communication and collaboration,” says Lainfiesta. “They allow for a collective understanding between groups of people and strengthen the capacity of the individuals in those groups,” she says.

Partnering for peace

Tejiendo Paz is implemented by USAID and Creative Associates International, in consortium with PartnersGlobal and ProPaz, reaching 130 communities in 15 municipalities. In addition to ProPaz, the project currently has 11 other local civil society grantees, as well as four grantees who have completed their projects.

Local partners that have concluded their grants include:

Guatemala Association of Indigenous Mayors and Authorities (Asociación Guatemalteca de Alcaldes y Autoridades Indígenas, AGAAI), Center for Studies on Conflict, Power, and Violence (Centro de Estudios sobre Conflictividad, Poder y Violencia, CENDES), Foundation for Education and Social Development (Fundación de Educación y Desarrollo Social, FUDESA), Pies de Occidente

Setting an example, being the change

March 27, 2023

By Erin Treinen

4 min read

Ana Cristina Toma Cruz is a 29-year-old indigenous woman from a small community of San Juan Cotzal. An elementary school teacher, university student, volunteer and member of Youth Voices for Peace Network (Red de Voceros y Voceras Juveniles para la Paz), Cruz is active in her community, driven by her desire to set an example for other young women in Guatemala who have big dreams for themselves.

“I want to be an exemplary person — in the sense that when people see me, they think ‘I can do it, because she did it,’” says Cruz. “I want to be a person who can contribute something, a person who can inspire someone.”

Cruz is already setting an example. Each morning, she goes to work, teaching at a local public elementary school. In the afternoon, she heads to a local economic empowerment organization where she volunteers to educate women in entrepreneurial topics so they can create business opportunities.

“I’ve always been interested in women’s rights and social change,” Cruz shares. “My volunteering was born out of asking myself if I can make a difference for other women.”

The answer Cruz found was yes, she could.

Addressing obstacles to equality

According to Cruz, a lack of economic independence is one of the biggest obstacles to achieving inclusion and equality in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Women need an education or trade to advance, which can be near impossible for women in rural settings who financially depend on male family members—the traditional breadwinners in Guatemala—who typically do not prioritize women’s education.

Financial dependence is linked to economic violence, a type of violence against women and girls that occurs when an individual denies their intimate partner access to financial resources, typically as a form of abuse or control. This is a common scenario for indigenous women in the Western Highlands.

Cruz has seen the power of economic empowerment in her own life. Working as an elementary school teacher allows her to contribute to her family’s finances and pay for university, where she studies social work on the weekends.

Participating in Voceros Juveniles,, Cruz has learned topics such as the transformation of conflicts, theater, and the communication, the risks of irregular migration, civic participation and cyber activism.

Youth Voices for Peace

In addition to teaching, studying and volunteering, Cruz also participates in Voceros Juveniles, a network of 226 young men and women in the Western Highlands who are building their leadership capacity, developing confidence and connecting on issues that matter to them through trainings and youth-led initiatives.

Voceros Juveniles brings together young people from diverse backgrounds and cultures to interact, collaborate and learn. It is Implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development and Creative Associates International through the Peacebuilding Project and the Central American Institute of Studies for Social Democracy (DEMOS).

“Through Voceros Juveniles, I have gotten involved in diverse spaces and have been able to see reality from a different perspective,” Cruz says. “In the network, we talk about a lot of different topics including social problems and this has helped me to understand the reality in other communities and the different contexts of my peers. This has been a profound learning for me.”

The Peacebuilding Project works to reduce social conflict and build social cohesion in Guatemala’s Western Highlands, prioritizing the inclusion of women, indigenous people, and youth in all programming and training them in conflict prevention and mitigation.

Voceros Juveniles provides the skills for young people to identify and reduce conflict as well as the confidence and leadership for them to bring these skills to spaces where decisions are made.

By participating in Voceros Juveniles, Cruz has learned about topics such as conflict transformation, theater and communication, the risks of irregular migration, civic participation and cyber-activism.

Learning how to effectively utilize technology for research and getting her message out more broadly has been a game-changer for Cruz.

“I’m not the youngest person in Voceros Juveniles,” says Cruz, “and I don’t have the same technology skills as some of the younger members who had easier access to digital platforms.”

With training through Voceros Juveniles, Cruz is now able to find and access reliable information for academic projects. What’s more, she has shifted her use of technology from a source of entertainment to one that inspires social change, sharing key messages about the importance of civic participation with her friends and peers in Ixil, one of 22 Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala.

Live your life for yourself

Cruz recognizes that achieving cultural and social change is a gradual process, requiring intentionality and consistency, which explains her ongoing dedication to teaching and empowering those around her.

When asked what she would say to inspire the young women in her community, Cruz exhales and pauses to gather her thoughts, mentioning there would be a lot to say.

“What I would say is that you should fight for what you want,” Cruz says. “Don’t push your dreams aside. Fight to be independent, professional women, with your own income and live your life for yourself.”

Stitching a colorful path to economic independence and reducing violence against women and girls

February 25, 2023

By Erin Treinen

4 min read

For Maya women, a woven or embroidered blouse, known as a huipil, is not just part of their traditional dress. It is an expression of culture and history. A huipil tells a story through flowers, animals and geometric figures and is an important aspect of indigenous identity.

Knowing how to cross-stitch and embroider huipiles is a valuable trade and presents an opportunity for women to earn income.

“The majority of us women in the community are financially dependent on our husbands because they are the only ones that work. This can sometimes cause conflict,” says Elena Leticia Caniz, an indigenous woman and community leader from Pachoc.

When the Peacebuilding Project began in Pachoc, Caniz actively participated alongside indigenous authorities, local leaders, adults, youth, men and women to identify, prioritize and analyze conflicts in the community.

Community participation is critical to how the Peacebuilding Project addresses social conflict and cohesion in the Western Highlands. The Peacebuilding Project, Tejiendo Paz in Spanish, is a 6.5-year project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative Associates International with PartnersGlobal and ProPaz. It works in 130 communities like Pachoc in the Western Highlands to reduce social conflict and build social cohesion.

Addressing economic violence with a needle and thread

It was during this conflict analysis process that the community members of Pachoc identified economic violence as a trigger for conflict that needed to be addressed. Economic violence is a type of violence against women and girls and is said to occur when an individual denies their intimate partner access to financial resources, typically as a form of abuse or control.

In response, the Peacebuilding Project worked with the Cooperation for the Rural Development of the Western Highlands (CDRO is the Spanish acronym) to support the women with a course in cross-stitch and embroidery. Additionally, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food provided an expert in needlework to train the group.

During nine sessions, 30 women learned to cross-stitch and embroider huipiles as a means of generating income. What is more, the women were able to do the work at home during their free time while still attending to their family responsibilities.

Aura Estela Poctzantzín, a 43-year-old indigenous woman, mother of 10 children enjoyed learning something new through the course.

“Before I took the course, I did not know how to cross-stitch or sew anything. Now I do,” says Poctzantzín, smiling. She is still working on her blouse, which she has spent months on and is proud to show off the colors and design.

Stitching a sense of self-worth

The Peacebuilding Project and CDRO maximized the women’s time during the course, teaching them about other critical topics and building their self-worth while they learned to cross-stitch.

“We learned to cross-stitch but we also learned about women’s rights and where we could go to denounce violence,” says Caniz.

“We received trainings from the Office for the Protection of Indigenous Women and the Human Rights Ombudsmen. These trainings woke us up to the fact that as women, we have rights and we have value,” she says.

Promoting a holistic, collaborative and coordinated approach between communities, partner organizations and government institutions is a key strategy to how the Peacebuilding Project contributes to weaving a more peaceful social fabric in the Western Highlands.

Financial independence on the horizon

The women received a large metal cross-stitch hoop for future projects. Most of them have already sold their first blouse and plan on purchasing more materials to continue working.

A CDRO representative taught the women how to price their pieces without undervaluing the time and work invested. She also offered to connect them with buyers in the municipal market who would be interested in purchasing their blouses.

“Women now have a way to work,” says Caniz. “Before, many of them would go to collect firewood and sell it once in a while. Now the majority are in their homes, cross-stitching something they will sell. There’s a satisfaction in that.”

The women felt powerful selling their first blouses, making their own money and deciding how to spend it. Some were over forty years old and experiencing this autonomy for the first time.

It not only moves them closer to financial independence, but it also contributes to their self-worth, helping to break generational cycles of economic violence.

Reflexionando sobre las “Habilidades para la juventud: Invertir en el capital humano de América Latina y el Caribe”

February 2, 2023

7 min read

[English Version]

Líderes educativos y expertos de los sectores público y privado se reunieron en la sede del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo en Washington, D.C. para discutir las brechas de habilidades en América Latina y el Caribe y cómo se puede transformar la región.

Como miembros de la Coalición para las Habilidades del Siglo 21 del BID, un grupo de expertos en educación y crecimiento económico de Creative fueron invitados a unirse a la conversación.

El evento híbrido coincidió con el Día Internacional de la Educación, el 24 de enero, y exploró el tema “Habilidades para la juventud: Invertir en el capital humano de América Latina y el Caribe” con la participación de más de 150 invitados en persona y 1.000 espectadores en línea.

“Reducir la brecha de habilidades para los jóvenes de diferentes orígenes socioeconómicos es una de las formas más poderosas de combatir la desigualdad”, dijo Ilan Goldfajn, presidente del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo en su discurso de apertura.

Demetrios Marantis, Director Global de Responsabilidad Corporativa de JP Morgan, copatrocinador de la conferencia, invitó a todos los actores a hacer su parte para ayudar a los jóvenes a adquirir las habilidades que necesitan para impulsar su carrera.

“Para demasiados jóvenes, estas habilidades están fuera de su alcance. A medida que la economía global se transforma, necesitamos transformar también las oportunidades para adquirir habilidades y conectar los recursos educativos con las oportunidades de empleo”, dijo Marantis. “Se trata de crear el talento innovador y creativo para los trabajos del mañana”.

Educación con Propósito

Desde ministros de educación hasta expertos académicos, investigadores y jóvenes, los panelistas y oradores amplificaron el llamado a transformar la educación. El tema central giró en torno a que la educación necesita involucrar mejor a los jóvenes, conectándolos con un propósito que los motive a aprender y permanecer en la escuela.

“Las habilidades fundamentales son relevantes, pero cuando los niños, niñas y jóvenes no entienden por qué están aprendiendo, no puedes implicarlos. Es por eso que hemos perdido a tantos jóvenes en ALC”, dijo Andreas Schleicher, Director de Educación y Habilidades de la OCDE, quien enfatizó que las generaciones más jóvenes enfrentan desafíos sin precedentes.

“La alfabetización ya no se trata de extraer conocimiento; se trata de contrastar la información. Estamos inundados de información, y nadie te dice lo que está bien y lo que está mal. Los jóvenes necesitan desarrollar un pensamiento crítico para saber la diferencia”, dijo. Schleicher postuló además que si bien las habilidades fundamentales como la alfabetización y la aritmética siguen siendo claves, y son relativamente fáciles de enseñar y evaluar, también se han convertido en habilidades que son fáciles de automatizar (piensa: ChatGPT). Pero las habilidades humanas no pueden ser automatizadas.

Profundizando en la necesidad de alinear la educación con un propósito, Kay McConney, Ministra de Educación de Barbados, dijo que al diseñar el plan de educación del país, el gobierno consideró de cerca las habilidades que un ciudadano global y caribeño necesita para prosperar hoy.

“La educación debe conducir a resultados que estén altamente vinculados al contexto. No se sostiene por sí mismo”, dijo.

La Ministra McConney ofreció como ejemplo una nueva alianza entre el Ministerio y el sector empresarial para apoyar el actual auge de la construcción de $ 1.4 mil millones en Barbados. La Iniciativa de Capacitación de Barbados Construction Gateway fue diseñada con un enfoque múltiple en colaboración con las empresas, permitiendo al mismo tiempo desarrollar el talento que necesitan para apoyar al sector, cerrar la brecha de habilidades y crear empleos.

Habilidades fundamentales vs. habilidades del siglo 21: No son excluyentes

Las habilidades fundamentales siguen siendo críticas para adquirir conocimientos a lo largo de la vida, y necesitamos afianzar los conceptos básicos correctamente para que los niños, niñas y jóvenes tengan éxito. La región ya estaba rezagada en los resultados de aprendizaje antes de la pandemia, con estudiantes de 15 años en ALC, en promedio, tres años por detrás de los estudiantes de la OCDE en lectura, matemáticas y ciencias (PISA, 2018).

Los líderes educativos de Barbados, Ecuador, Paraguay y Uruguay coincidieron en la urgencia de mejorar los resultados del aprendizaje y abordar las altas tasas de deserción escolar en la región, destacando la necesidad de implementar estrategias basadas en la evidencia para traer a los estudiantes de vuelta y ponerlos al día, evitando al mismo tiempo el agotamiento de los docentes.

Los panelistas expertos destacaron los importantes dividendos de invertir en educación. Harry Anthony Patrinos, asesor del Banco Mundial, señaló que cada año de escolaridad representa un aumento del 10% en los ingresos futuros y que una mejora del 1% en la educación aumenta el PIB nacional en alrededor del 6%.

“Los gobiernos deberían tener planes de inversión para mejorar la educación, al igual que tienen un plan de inversión en infraestructura”, agregó.

Alejandro Adler, Decano de Vida Estudiantil y Bienestar del Upper Canada College y Robert E. McGrath, Ph.D. Profesor de Psicología en la Universidad Fairleigh Dickinson, compartieron los hallazgos de un reciente estudio conjunto producido para el BID sobre las 10 principales habilidades para la vida. El estudio encontró que dos años de intervenciones en habilidades para la vida, atención plena y bienestar, se reflejan en un aumento de un año adicional de alfabetización y aritmética.

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¿Cómo enseñar habilidades del siglo 21?

“Las habilidades del siglo 21 pueden y deben ser enseñadas, pero cambiar un sistema educativo no se trata sólo de cambiar un currículo o plan de estudios. Los maestros son el nodo del sistema educativo, y solo si están capacitados a través del aprendizaje profesional continuo podrán enseñar estas habilidades y practicarlas”, advirtió Adler, argumentando que necesitamos apoyar mejor a los maestros para que puedan enseñar estas habilidades explícitamente e integrarlas en el aula.

Ben Nelson, fundador y rector de la Universidad de Minerva, una institución disruptiva que está replanteando la educación superior, enfatizó que “el concepto de habilidades transferibles no ocurre por accidente. La única manera de enseñar el pensamiento crítico es a través de la práctica y la repetición de las diferentes habilidades que lo componen. Hacerlo tantas veces que finalmente se logre una conexión en el cerebro del estudiante. Pero nuestro sistema educativo ni siquiera contempla cómo los estudiantes ponen en práctica lo que aprenden”. Afirmando que “tenemos que atraer el intelecto de los estudiantes, es así como mantenemos a los niños, niñas y jóvenes en la escuela”.

Reflexiones finales

Para concluir, vale la pena reflexionar sobre las palabras compartidas en la conferencia por Jeffrey Sachs, Director del Centro para el Desarrollo Sostenible de la Universidad de Columbia y Presidente de la Red de Soluciones para el Desarrollo Sostenible de las Naciones Unidas.

“Desde todos los puntos de vista, no hay inversión más importante que la educación. Punto. Los jóvenes necesitan estar en las escuelas, necesitan estar aprendiendo, tener acceso a maestros capacitados, materiales de calidad, información para desarrollar las habilidades que necesitan. Es obvio. Pero no le está sucediendo a una gran proporción de niños, niñas y jóvenes en el mundo. La educación no está funcionando para la mayoría. Es una declaración fuerte. Pero lo digo en serio”.

Sachs terminó con un llamado a aumentar la inversión para lograr avances.

“La educación siempre sufre en el reparto de la financiación para el desarrollo, y debemos movilizar financiación para hacer lo que sabemos que debemos hacer”, dijo.

La buena noticia es que tenemos evidencia de lo que funciona, y este tipo de evento es una prueba de que diferentes actores se están uniendo para avanzar esta agenda.

“Soy optimista y creo que un cambio significativo es posible. Pero debemos ir más allá de los vaivenes de la voluntad política”, dijo María Brown Pérez, Ministra de Educación de Ecuador. “La educación debe convertirse en una prioridad colectiva y permanecer en el centro de las demandas ciudadanas”.

Ha llegado el momento de repensar, rediseñar y reutilizar la educación para la vida y para el desarrollo sostenible. El impulso postpandemia para transformar la educación sigue muy vigente y no podemos desaprovecharlo.

Reflecting on “Skills for youth: Investing in the human capital of Latin America and the Caribbean”

February 2, 2023

5 min read

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Educational leaders and experts from the public and private sectors gathered at the International Development Bank’s Washington, D.C. headquarters to discuss skills gaps in Latin America and the Caribbean and how the region can be transformed.

As members of the IDB’s 21st Century Skills Coalition, a group of Creative’s education and economic growth experts were invited to join the conversation.

The hybrid event coincided with International Education Day, Jan. 24, and explored the topic of “Skills for youth: Investing in the human capital of Latin America and the Caribbean” with more than 150 in-person guests and 1,000 online viewers.

“Narrowing the skills gap for youth from different socioeconomic backgrounds is one of the most powerful ways to fight inequality” said Ilan Goldfajn, President of the Inter-American Development Bank in his opening remarks.

Demetrios Marantis, Global Head of Corporate Responsibility at JP Morgan, a co-sponsor of the conference, invited all actors to do their part to help young people gain the skills they need to propel their career.

“For too many young people, these skills are out of reach. As the global economy transforms, we need to transform the opportunities to gain skills and connect educational resources with employment opportunities,” said Marantis. “It’s about creating the innovative and creative talent for the jobs of tomorrow.”

Education with Purpose

From Ministers of education to academic experts, researchers and youth, panelists and speakers amplified the call to transform education. The overarching theme was that education needs to better engage youth by connecting them with a purpose that will motivate them to learn and stay in school.

“Foundational skills are relevant, but when kids don’t understand why they’re learning you can’t engage them. This is why we’ve lost so many young people in LAC,” said Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills, who stressed that younger generations face unprecedented challenges.

“Literacy is no longer about extracting knowledge; it’s about contrasting information. We are inundated with information, and nobody tells you what is right and what is wrong. Young people need to develop critical thinking to know the difference,” he said. Schleicher further challenged that while foundational skills like literacy and numeracy remain key, and are relatively easy to teach and assess, they have also become skills that are easy to automate (think: ChatGPT). But human skills cannot be automated.

Furthering the need to align education to a purpose, Kay McConney, the Minister of Education of Barbados, said that in designing the country’s education plan, the government closely considered the skills that a global and a Caribbean citizen needs to thrive today.

“Education must lead to outcomes that are highly linked to the context. It doesn’t stand alone,” she said.

Minister McConney offered as an example a new partnership between the Ministry and the business sector to support the current $1.4 billion construction boom in Barbados. The Barbados Construction Gateway Training Initiative was designed as a multi-pronged approach in collaboration with businesses to develop the talent they need to support the sector, closing the skills gap and creating jobs.

Foundational skills vs. 21st century skills – It’s not a tradeoff

Foundational skills remain critical to acquiring knowledge throughout life, and we need to get the basics right for children and youth to succeed. The region was already lagging on learning outcomes before the pandemic, with 15-year-old students in LAC, on average, three years behind OECD students in reading, mathematics and science (PISA, 2018).

Education leaders from Barbados, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay agreed on the urgency to improve learning outcomes and address the region’s high dropout rates, highlighting the need to deploy evidence-based strategies to bring students back and catch them up while avoiding teacher burn-out.

Expert panelists stressed the significant dividends of investing in education. Harry Anthony Patrinos, an Adviser at the World Bank, noted that every year of schooling is a 10% increase in future income and that a 1% improvement in education increases national GDP by around 6%.

“Governments should have investment plans for improving education, much like an infrastructure investment plan,” he added.

Alejandro Adler, Dean of Student Life and Wellbeing at Upper Canada College, and Robert E. McGrath, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology at Fairleigh Dickinson University, shared findings on the top 10 life skills identified in a recent joint study produced for the IDB. The study found that two years of interventions in life skills, mindfulness and wellbeing resulted in youth gaining an extra year of literacy and numeracy.

How to teach 21st century skills?

“21st century skills can and should be taught, but changing an education system is not just about changing a curriculum. Teachers are the node of the education system, and only if they are trained through ongoing professional learning will they be able to teach these skills and practice them,” cautioned Adler, arguing that we need to better support teachers to be able to teach these skills explicitly and embed them in the classroom.

Ben Nelson, Founder and Chancellor of Minerva University, an institution rethinking higher education, emphasized that, “the concept of transferable skills doesn’t happen by accident. The only way to teach critical thinking is through practice and repetition of the different skills that compose it. To do it so many times, that it becomes wired into a student’s brain. But our education system doesn’t even contemplate how students put into practice what they learn.” Affirming that “we have to attract students’ intellect —that’s how we keep kids in school.”

Final reflections

In closing, it is worth reflecting on the words shared at the conference by Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and President of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

“From every point of view, there is no more important investment than education. Period. Young people need to be in schools, need to be learning, have access to trained teachers, quality materials, information to develop the skills they need. It’s obvious. But it’s not happening to a large proportion of children and youth in the world. Education is not working for most of the world’s children. It’s a strong statement. But I mean it.”

Sachs ended with a call to increase investments to enable progress.

“Education is always shortchanged in development finance, and we must mobilize financing to do what we know needs to be done,” he said.

The good news is that we have evidence of what works, and this type of event is proof that different actors are coming together to move this agenda forward.

“I am an optimist and believe significant change is possible. But we must move beyond the ambiguity of political will,” said María Brown Pérez, Ecuador’s Minister of Education. “Education must become a collective priority and remain at the center of citizens’ demands.”

The time is ripe to rethink, redesign, and repurpose education for life and for sustainable development. The pandemic momentum for transforming education is still very much alive, and we cannot afford to lose that.