Central America has a history marked by revolutions, revolts and ruptures, events that have left deep footprints in the social fabric. Peace processes in Guatemala (1996) and El Salvador (1992) are superficial and have fallen short in their reconciliatory intention. In Nicaragua the end of the war between contras and Sandinistas (1990) was accompanied by policies of forgiving and forgetting that did not allow an encounter with the past. Clarifying, documenting and disseminating the memories of the various protagonists is essential to understanding the present and contributing to the inconclusive processes of reconciliation and democratization in Central American societies.

Rescuing historical memory is particularly important in Nicaragua, where 40 years after the overthrow of Somoza an authoritarian system has been installed under the mantle of a popular revolution. With the repression of the April 2018 rebellion that left 325 people dead, free expression spaces have been closed. In a polarized and intimidated society, art and culture empower one of the few non-politicized spaces. From independent positions, they foster reflection and stimulate the search for non-violent solutions to overcome the crisis.

• Outcome 1: Emphasis on children and youth (m/f) in areas affected by the 2018 socio-political crisis in Nicaragua.
• Outcome 2: A non-elitist culture accessible to all sectors of society is promoted.
• Outcome 3: Societies affected by trauma arising from the internal conflicts in the social and institutional fabric of Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador y Honduras.

• Outcome 1: A culture of peace, promoted through processes of art and culture with children and youth, fosters tolerance and peaceful coexistence in Nicaragua.
  
• Outcome 2: An expanded and diversified cultural offer accessible to a broad audience promotes dialogue and freedom of expression.
  
• Outcome 3: Strengthened and visible historical memory processes drive debates that influence the construction of more democratic and inclusive institutions in Central America.

Principaux résultats attendus:  

• A strengthened and expanded supply of workshops, processes and activities in culture of peace for children and youth in areas affected by the conflict in Nicaragua.
• An energized cultural agenda in Nicaragua.
• Memories rescued and made visible through different media in Central America.
• A regional network for historical memory formed by civil society organizations fosters mutual learning and boosts the visibility and effect of memory processes.

Principaux résultats antérieurs:  

Society, culture and memory" is a new programme. In its opening phase, two national calls for cultural projects and a regional call for memory were launched under the title "Communicating memory is building citizenship". For this regional call, 29 proposals were received, and 11 projects from three countries were selected. In addition, there were four conversations in Managua on memory rescue that revealed the collective unmet need to analyse and understand the past in order to influence the present from a perspective of non-repetition. 

An assessment of the cultural sector in Nicaragua confirmed the traditional commitment of the arts and culture to social issues, human rights, gender equity and memory rescue. Because of their critical approach, independent art and culture do not receive state support. Without external support, many institutions are at risk of disappearing.

Regional Advisory Committee: Formed by representatives of the SDC Office in Honduras, the Embassies of Switzerland in Guatemala and Costa Rica, it meets annually to ensure the programme’s strategic orientation. 

Other SDC programmes: 

Regional Human Rights. The strengthening of the Inter-American Human Rights System will be complemented with a regional platform to discuss memory, which will address the importance of dealing with the past to achieve the right to justice and the guarantees of non-recurrence in Central America.

• Fondo Cultura Honduras: To explore the possibility of exchanges among cultural promoters and artists.
  
• Fondo de Apoyo a Sociedad Civil: To coordinate common actions at the local level and joint learning events.
  
• Other actors: Alliances with cultural centres linked to France and Spain to coordinate support for cultural promoters.

Phase 1 01.11.2017 - 30.06.2024   (Completed)