The CAD team has just returned from Mexico where a new project to promote and support partnerships in indigenous communities from Chiapas and Yucatán has started. It is a new collaboration -of at least a year and a half- with the WK Kellog Foundation which focuses on reducing inequalities and the empowerment of indigenous communities in these two regions during the next 25 years (a whole generation).

This collaboration offers CAD the opportunity to oversee five partnerships that include a total of 30 organizations, during a long period of time. The aim is to respond to their particular needs and offer them support in achieving the goals set for the partnership. The organizations included are mainly local associations and NGOs, but also schools and universities. All of them share the objective of valuing and fostering the mayan culture (Tseltal, Tsotsil, Maya), and reinforce the importance of these communities in decision-making processes through actions in the fields of agriculture, nutrition, etc.

The first phase of the program will take place between October and March, and will consist on the design and preparation of the program. The trip to Chiapas and Yucatán has allowed the CAD team to get to know the members of the partnerships and address their training and supporting needs, their difficulties and achievements, and the most appropriate way to implement the project.

The program will be designed interactively mixing theoretical training, exercises, case studies, advice and mentoring to the participants.

The CAD team, consisting of partnerships experts, designers, experts in conflict resolution and community processes, among others, is currently preparing the partnerships program. This will be presented in early 2016, and it is expected to be implemented during a year starting March 2016.