Yes, of course. Yes, elsewhere in Latin America, Participa, a Chilean civic group, conducts forums in communities around the country, many organized around the issue of how to reduce crime and violence. Another example comes from Colombia where the Civic Education and Democratization program helps poor people develop citizenship skills. The Latin America Democracy Network, which has received funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, is particularly active in Chile, Colombia, Argentina, and Guatemala. This effort pools resources and skills to promote civic education and citizen participation in these countries and in the region.
Similar efforts are under way all over the world.
In Russia, the Russian Center for Citizenship Education is sponsoring forums around the country on issues relevant to that nation's developing democracy. In Eastern Europe, the Eastern European Deliberative Network, begun by the Joint East European Center in Budapest, is sponsoring forums in that region. I recently returned from Central Asia and was fascinated by the growth of nongovernmental organizations there. A lot of the growth is recent, thanks to funding largely from the United States and the European Union. The need for civic organizations to build networks and collaborative efforts is beginning to materialize on a worldwide scale.