Foundation for Parliamentary and Citizen Participation Support

La Fundación de Apoyo al Parlamento y a la Participación Ciudadana (Foundation for Parliamentary and Citizen Participation Support) "is a nonprofit nongovernmental organization founded in 1997 to promote, support, foster, and disseminate the values of democracy and the rule of law arising from the parliamentary system, according to the Constitution of Bolivia. This civil society organization is led by various former presidents of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.

"FUNDAPPAC pursues its mission from its headquarters in La Paz by conducting seminars and educational events and producing publications to disseminate information on the constitutional process. FUNDAPPAC expresses great interest in supporting participation by women and youth in public affairs and their training for such participation.

"FUNDAPPAC receives funding from the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany."

According to a UNDP report: "In 2001, USAID concluded that the declining support for democracy in Bolivia could be bolstered through its programme to improve the contact between representatives and their constituents, which focused on assisting the uninominal deputies and departmental brigades. The agency joined a donor group including the German Hans Seidel Foundation and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ); the English and Spanish assistance agencies occasionally attended. A local NGO, the Foundation in Support of Popular Participation and the Congress (FUNDAPPAC) coordinated the group. The IDB did not attend, nor did other agencies that gave only occasional support, such as the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA)...

"Since the loss of Congress’ credibility was a critical threat to the stability of the country, the USAID programme to improve Congress’s contact with the population was now seen as vital in helping to preserve the institution of democracy. Three of the donors, USAID, GTZ and the Hans Seidel Foundation, began to coordinate more closely among themselves to support the uninominal deputies and the parliamentary departmental brigades. FUNDAPPAC’s participation was temporarily diminished as its Executive Director was tapped to become the Minister of Government (Interior). USAID’s institutional contractor, the State University of New York/Center for International Development (SUNY/CID), provided individual deputies, congressional committees and brigades with technical assistance and training in planning and applying various mechanisms to contact their constituents, principally through public hearings, citizens’ forums and interactive radio programmes. GTZ offered assistance in logistics, methodology, and data recording and analysis, while the Hans Seidel Foundation completed several important investigations and provided coordination for the group."

Contact

 * Web: http://www.fundappac.org