Regional

AfroAmerica XXI
$100,998
To promote local political participation of Afro-Latino communities in Honduras, Panama, and Venezuela. Through a series of workshops and roundtable discussions, AfroAmerica will train 75 Afro-Latino leaders in institutional strengthening, leadership, and civil and political rights. AfroAmerica will host a conference in Washington, D.C. to bring together Afro-Latino leaders from Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Honduras with representatives of Washington's international policy community.

American Center for International Labor Solidarity
$352,400
To support freedom of association in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. ACILS will assist national organizations in Central America in building the capacity of workers and their unions to organize, bargain collectively, and enlist national and international resources to bolster and protect their efforts. The program strives to strengthen the capacity of workers and their organizations to use the labor rights instruments, and also to establish new unions and complete new collective bargaining agreements.

American Center for International Labor Solidarity
$687,823
To strengthen unions' capacity to involve workers democratically at their workplaces in Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia. The program activities will focus on trade union organizations in key economic sectors and will emphasize collective bargaining skills that promote inclusion of wider concerns of workers. The program will work with the trade union partners in the five countries of the Andean Region to coordinate sector and industry specific actions in support of freedom of association and collective bargaining.

American Center for International Labor Solidarity
$245,600
To support freedom of association in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. ACILS will work to increase interaction between local and national union leaders in planning strategies and sharing innovative organizing and bargaining methods. In addition, it will provide for regional exchanges between unions from the same sector that share common concerns and best practices. The program will also work to replicate effective organizing and bargaining methods, and coordinate strategies to advocate for workers rights across borders.

American Center for International Labor Solidarity
$240,240
To strengthen unions' internal democratic mechanisms and the ability of trade unions to organize and represent workers. ACILS will work with unions in the telecommunications, graphical, and media print sectors across the region to exchange concerns and experiences. ACILS will also assist union efforts to strengthen their membership base, become more internally democratic, and engage in collective bargaining.

American University, Academy for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
$169,984
To promote the role of law schools in influencing public policy regarding human rights issues. With the Iberoamericana University in Mexico, American University (AU) will draft legislation prohibiting torture and submit it to the Federal Congress for consideration. In law schools in Venezuela and Bolivia, AU will work to create and institutionalize human rights curricula, and to train human rights practitioners.

American University, Washington College of Law
$77,013
To promote respect for freedom of expression through the international litigation of pivotal cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The Washington College of Law and the Diego Portales University Law School in Chile will collaborate to present these cases and create a report on best practices for impact litigation concerning freedom of expression.

Asociación Ser en el 2000 (2000 Association) (SER)
$110,000
To promote the capacity of civilians in the area of security and defense. SER will continue the research and training activities of its regional network of NGOs, academics, and state institutions in Latin America working in the field of civil-military relations, defense, and security. SER and the regional network will produce case studies of the defense budgeting process in Venezuela, Paraguay, Mexico, and the congressional defense committees in the Andean Region.

Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)
$160,000
To promote and defend human rights in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. CEJIL will present and litigate paradigmatic cases before the Inter-American System for Human Rights (IAS); train local human rights organizations and government officials on the use of the IAS and international law; and strengthen the IAS by increasing the involvement of NGOs. Through these activities, CEJIL hopes to compel these governments to implement judicial reforms to comply with international human rights standards.

Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (Center for Legal and Social Studies) (CELS)
$85,000
To strengthen the capacity of human rights legal clinics and raise awareness of human rights in the provinces of Argentina and in Paraguay. CELS will support human rights organizations in Argentina's provinces and in Paraguay by undertaking joint activities, conducting trainings, and offering technical expertise. Additionally, CELS will raise awareness of human rights through the litigation of public interest cases.

Insituto Prensa y Sociedad - Perú (Institute of Press and Society) (IPYS)
$120,000
To protect journalists and freedom of expression in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, and Ecuador. IPYS's Alert Network enables journalists to report threats or attacks, which IPYS then investigates and publicizes, and provides legal assistance. Finally, using its network of media monitors in Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil, IPYS will serve as the Latin America coordinator for the International Freedom of Expression Exchange.

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
$201,116
To provide technical assistance to advance the party strengthening projects of young political party leaders. NDI will sponsor expert trainer visits to Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Peru over the next year to provide support to NDI Leadership Program participants from those countries.

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
$150,000
To strengthen political parties through the exchange of information and experiences. NDI will use its improved Political Party Network (PPN) website to expand and strengthen reform-minded leaders within the PPN. Additionally, NDI will develop and distribute additional party reform manuals and case studies, improve its training methodologies, and respond to requests for training on party reform issues.

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
$105,380
To support emerging party leaders as they implement party-strengthening and party-reform projects in political parties in Colombia and Peru. This program is the follow-on component of the Political Leadership Program, which began with an intensive leadership development seminar in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 2006. NDI assistance and training will target the areas of strategic planning, political negotiation, youth and gender, civil society outreach, and internal and external communications tools.