SIPAZ Activities (May – July 2000)

Between May and July 2000, team activities included the following:

VISITS AND CONTACTS

• Visit to the northern region (communities in the counties of Tila and Sabanilla) to speak with figures from different social sectors in the pre-electoral context and during the voting.
• Interview with the First Political Secretary of the U.S. Embassy during his visit to Chiapas.
• Visit to Mexico City for meetings with NGOs, religious figures and diplomatic representatives (embassies of Germany, Great Britain, France, United States, and a delegation from the European Commission in Mexico).
• Interview with the new Bishop of San Cristobal de las Casas, Felipe Arizmendi, in the context of the ecumenical work of SIPAZ.
• Interviews with religious figures from various denominations in the Chiapas highlands.
• Interviews with various NGOs and churches for research on the Federal Preventive Police
• Assistance in organizing the program for the Civil Mission for Peace in Chiapas, May 18-22.

INFORMATION

• Convoking, organizing and facilitating a meeting with organizations that work with children in Chiapas as part of a research project on children.
• Consultations with two religious delegations from the United States.
• Workshop on accompaniment and international human rights observation for a Mexican NGO.
• Participation as an observer in the civil society conference on democracy and peace in June in Mexico City.

EDUCATION

• Facilitation of workshops on Conflict Transformation with teachers from the House of Science.
• Participation in a series of workshops to promote the methodology on Conflict Resolution of the University of Birmingham, England.
• Facilitation of a workshop on Conflict Analysis and Strategies for Peace with promoters from the Center for Women’s Research and Assistance (CIAM).