Americas

Costa Rica

• Community-based pest management in Central American agriculture
• Costa Rica - Toronto Violence Prevention
• Prevention of Violence against Women in Costa Rica
• Training for Regional Sustainable Development
• Formation en gestion des coopératives

Training for Regional Sustainable Development

Project purpose: To help their regions address the pressing problems associated with environmental deterioration and poverty, the Universidad de la Serena in Chile and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma in Costa Rica, in collaboration with the University of Regina, worked to strengthen their capacities to provide leadership in regional sustainable development in the areas of teaching, training, research, information management, institutional assessment and project management.

Key results to date: All of the training of the two partner university teams in sustainable development concepts and methods, research methods, information systems and institutional assessment has been completed. The two teams have also finished their work related to the information system, field research and institutional assessments, and have experienced significant success in the organization and delivery of their training programs.

Costa Rica - Toronto Violence Prevention

Project purpose: The project aimed to increase the capacity of the University of Costa Rica to design, develop, deliver and evaluate gender-sensitive anti-violence training.

Key results to date: Academic authorities and faculty at the University of Costa Rica and the State Distance University have gained new skills in developing inclusive and non-sexist curricula, research and outreach programs committed to gender equality and equity among men and women. A specialized graduate program on gender and intra-family violence was developed by UCR and the National University, consolidated within the Central American region with project support. Strong practice-based research and innovative practicum projects provided a critical mass of students influencing changes in government and non-governmental agencies within the education, health and judicial sectors. Innovative and appropriate resource materials to meet educational, training and management needs were developed with the participation of UCR, specialists from the National Distance Education University and NGOs (including the creation of a bibliographic database). Ongoing training on media representations of gender violence against women and women's human rights was provided to journalists from the main Costa Rican newspapers, TV and radio (urban and rural) stations, UCR media and journalism faculty and students. Health care providers were trained to develop pragmatic and sustainable practice-based strategies for responding to intra-family violence.

Community-based pest management in Central American agriculture

Project purpose: The purpose of the project is to improve policies and technical capacity in pesticide storage, handling and use on the part of farmers and their communities in Central America, as a way to enhance human and environmental health while increasing agricultural productivity.

Key results to date: During the first year, nine university staff and 35 representatives from academia, government, industry and non-governmental organizations participated in a certificate course on pesticide risk assessment. In addition, 13 faculty and 28 students from Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras were trained in participatory qualitative methodologies for investigating community knowledge. Each student completed a 4-week research practicum within families and communities on pesticide and food storage, handling and use. On-going feedback meetings in the three countries are helping build stronger relationships between students, universities, rural participants and communities in general. They are also providing a venue for rural participants to have a voice in both technical development and policy development initiatives. At the university level, three courses have been modified to introduce new information on participatory research methods and the development of policy indicators.

Formation en gestion des coopératives

Project purpose: The primary objective was to regionalize the University of Costa Rica's master's degree program.

Key results to date: Through this project the universities of Costa Rica and Honduras established a master's program in cooperative business management; the University of El Salvador now offers four specially designed certificate programs, one of which is in cooperative management; and the University of Panama has developed a business administration degree with a specialization in cooperatives. Approximately 260 people have been trained through these programs and more than 300 people have received ad hoc training. Twenty-six case studies dealing with cooperative problems and organizations have been published. A network linking faculty at the universities of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Panama was formed and has been integrated into the network of the universities of the Americas in cooperative studies.

Prevention of Violence against Women in Costa Rica

Project purpose: The project was meant to strengthen the partners' capacity to devise cost-effective and successful anti-violence policies and programs. It also aimed to enhance the expertise already present at the University of Western Ontario.

Key results to date: Pilot testing of the International Violence against Women Survey was completed in 2002, and the full survey was undertaken in 2003, with training opportunities provided for 20 students in social work, sociology and psychology at UCR and staff from the National Institute for Women. Partners worked with Costa Rican regional networks of service providers to women victims of violence to develop projects in the economic costs of violence against women. Project results have been presented in Canada and Costa Rica, as well as at international meetings in Italy, Mexico, Thailand, Honduras, and Washington D.C. Costa Rica is now in a position to further develop culturally sensitive Spanish training models and materials that can be applied throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. A series of workshops and public presentations in economic costing, violence indicators and survey methods were held in Costa Rica. Student exchanges took place with three Costa Rican social work students travelling to Canada. A Canadian psychology student completed her honours thesis on "Effective evaluation of services for abused women in Canada and Costa Rica," which involved a week's fieldwork in Costa Rica, and a Canadian social work student completed a placement in Costa Rica in August-September 2004. Two master's theses have been completed on project themes in Costa Rica. A curriculum in the area of violence against women has been developed and enhanced at both universities. A major concluding activity for the project was a symposium organized in Antigua, Guatemala in May 2005. Held in collaboration with the Central American Feminist Network on Violence Against Women and The Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, it was on the theme of "Gender Violence Against Women: Best Practices and Lessons Learned."