CASALS & ASSOCIATES IN LATIN AMERICA

Casals & Associates works with local, state and national governments, businesses, civil society groups, and communities on democracy and governance, rule of law and justice, anti-corruption, local governance, conflict management and recovery, and other sustainable development challenges.

Our work in Latin America encompasses a broad range of international development programs - from implementing anti-corruption, transparency, and accountability programs in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Panama to enhancing good governance and democracy in countries such as Mexico, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic.  

• Democracy & Governance
• Rule of Law
• Anti-Corruption
• Civil Society Strengthening
• Conflict Management & Recovery
• Public Outreach
• Training & Mentoring
• Logistics
• Contingency Operations
• Infrastructure
• Development & Management

KEY PROGRAMS ACROSS LATIN AMERICA

CENTRAL AMERICA AND MEXICO ANTI-CORRUPTION, TRANSPARENCY, AND ACCOUNTABILITY PROGRAM

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contracted Casals & Associates to lead a five-year Central America and Mexico (CAM) Anti-Corruption, Transparency, and Accountability Program.

The region-wide initiative, headquartered in Guatemala, had additional programs in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Panama. Under CAM, we coordinated with the four countries' governments to bring the private sector, civil society, and other regional stakeholders together to reduce corruption, improve transparency, and facilitate credible and effective stewardship of the countries and their public resources.

CAM activities included linking anti-corruption advocates in multiple countries to address and resolve shared problems.

TRANSPARENCY AND GOOD GOVERNANCE INITIATIVES ACROSS THE REGION

As a trusted partner for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) missions throughout Latin America, Casals & Associates supports USAID's efforts to bring more responsive and transparent governance to countries throughout the region. Key initiatives include:

• Improving government communication
• Promoting nongovernmental organization networks and public-private partnerships to strengthen the role of civil society
• Increasing government transparency and accountability by establishing and strengthening effective transparency initiatives within each country's government
• Working with local governments to establish and reinforce transparency plans and a variety of associated government activities
• Supporting government budget and procurement entities
• Promoting competition within government through policy reforms and regulatory changes
• Bolstering capacity to monitor government performance
• Establishing and strengthening mechanisms within governmental institutions that prevent, detect, and deter corrupt practices

In accordance with USAID's Anti-Corruption Strategy, Casals & Associate's approach addresses the dual challenges of grand and administrative corruption by designing crosscutting interventions to maximize transformation and promote sustainability. Specifically, our work includes implementing activities related to transparency indices, social audit, judicial sector and institutional strengthening, as well as developing media campaign messages illustrating that reform is possible when citizens share in the responsibility of making democracy work.

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