Identifies reasons for corporate involvement in community programs of youth participation and development. Describes Latin American and Caribbean programs in which youth volunteerism in community development produces multiple returns on corporate support. Discusses characteristics of effective youth programs; forms of corporate support (cash,…

The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) enhances perpetuation of indigenous communities through its "Fourth Museum" program that supports living community museums created by and located in indigenous communities of the Americas. Through education and financial and technical aid, NMAI helps community…

Community forestry is an approach to forest management that could protect the environment while benefiting the rural poor by restoring local control of natural resources. Three interrelated issues must be addressed: land and resource tenure, development of local organizational and management skills, and adapting technology for sustainable…

A study examined how government agencies, the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, and community organizations in Latin America cooperate in development activities. A model outlines each sector's functions in service delivery, human resource development and training, resource mobilization, research, and public education; the stages of…

Documents the transformation of a subsidized international development project into a for-profit "environmental enterprise," an ecological business run by and for small-scale fishermen on Colombia's Caribbean coast. Demonstrates the need for development projects to become businesses and the critical role of social investments (literacy…

Since the late 1980s, a network of community museums has spread throughout Oaxaca (Mexico), serving as an autonomous force for broad-based cultural development, supporting the maintenance and revitalization of local Indigenous cultures, countering Western cultural hegemony, and involving Indigenous communities in museum development and related…

A partnership of nongovernmental organizations developed a model of integrated community development centers (CDICs) to address the lack of services and affordable basic necessities in poor barrios surrounding many Latin American cities. A CDIC in a Guayaquil (Ecuador) barrio provides wholesale goods and credit to barrio shopkeepers and…

Indigenous community organizations and organizational federations in Ecuador have moved from dealing with issues of land, civil rights, and cultural identity to promoting culturally appropriate, community-based, sustainable economic development ventures. The need for technical training and the success of Indian-to-Indian job training are…

As local pressures mount and state resources dwindle, intermediary organizations are emerging throughout Latin America. Although theoretically enabling people at the grass roots to participate in their own development and reap the benefits of their labor, the costs and tensions are often not worth the burden. Explores the quandaries that new…

In recent decades, rural Mayan women in Guatemala have been working to overcome long-standing disadvantages: illiteracy, poverty, lack of basic community services, and lack of respect for women's abilities and contributions. Profiles of 10 Mayan women describe their educational experiences and their community development work, particularly in the…

Examines how Inter-American Foundation's grantees in Argentina are coping with the country's economic crisis of 2001. Describes community development projects in Indigenous regions, the role of urban schools as the only functioning public institution providing human services, literacy education in Patagonia, job training and support for…

Discusses how cultural vitality drives successful community development. Links cultural, community, and environmental values. Examines successes and failures of programs attempting to link culture and development in Panama, Ecuador, and Colombia. Examines role of cultural self-examination for creating new development paradigm. Examines prospects…

Amid the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Brazil was the Global Forum, a gathering of representatives of more than 9,000 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Brazil's array of NGOs and grass-roots support organizations began developing in the early 1960s. The "pedagogy of the oppressed" developed by Paulo…

Participation, empowerment, and sustainability are basic tenets of community development work of the Inter-American Foundation, but these are difficult to measure. The Grassroots Development Framework breaks these concepts into concrete, measurable components to evaluate sustainability over time and short-term cost/efficiency results of community…

Describes a participatory research project among the Sikuani Indians of Colombia that uncovered solutions to a failing government-imposed health program. Discusses promoting community involvement in and control of its own health care, integrating traditional and modern medical practices, and adapting national health dictums to local circumstances.…