Sanford LAC & CLACS Report to the Office of Global Affairs
Peacebuilding and Urban Violence in Latin America:
From Local Experience to Public Policy
By
Ignacio Asis (MIDP ’17), Carlos Juárez (MIDP ’16), Elohim Monard (MIDP ’16), Gonzalo Pertile (MIDP ’17) and Ariadne Rivera (MPP ’16)
Sanford School of Public Policy
April 24th, 2016
Peacebuilding and Urban Violence in Latin America:
From Local Experience to Public Policy
April 15 & 16, 2016.
Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University
Dear Hanscom Endowment Committee Members,
We would like to use this report to show our gratitude for your grant offer to support our initiative to get more understanding on one of the most pressing issues in Latin America. We have enjoyed the workshop, and the quality of the presentations and discussions went beyond our expectations. The 11.5-hour seminar provided us with skills and depth knowledge of the topic to positively craft solutions in our countries. We were also impressed by the interest from the broader Duke regarding urban violence in Latin America.
Summary:
Crime and violence is one of the major concerns in Latin America and the Caribbean. For instance, 43 out of the 50 most dangerous cities in the world are located in the region (CCSJ, 2015). Cities with the highest homicides rates are located in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela. There is a broad discussion on the causes for elevated violence. Scholars and practitioners agree it is a complex problem with multiple causes, from drug trafficking, gang wars, political instability, persistent inequalities, and corruption. However, there is still a lack of focus on how to solve the issue.
To contribute to the academic discussion on this topic, a seminar called “Peacebuilding and Urban Violence in Latin America: From Local Experience to Public Policy”was organized bythe Sanford Latin America and Caribbean Group (Sanford LAC) in collaboration with the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) and the Duke Center for International Development (DCID). Generous support has been also provided by the Sanford School of Public Policy, the Office of Global Affairs, the Hanscom Endowment, and the Duke-UNC Rotary Peace Center, all at Duke.
We invited a set of well-known practitioners and specialists in the topic to achieve three objectives:
●Discuss and develop innovative approaches on public policy to address crime and violence in LAC.
●Raise awareness about violence and security issues affecting the region.
●Strengthen synergies, relationship and networks between Latin American policymakers and the Duke Community
Methodology
The two-day event included two main activities:
- DAY 1: Open Conference and Panel. Friday, April 15, 5:30 – 7:00 pm, Sanford 04.
Panelistspresented different perspectives to understand urban violence and city fragility in Latin America. They also discussed the relevance of cities as they increasingly concentrate human activity, as well as the key factors and drivers of violence, high risk populations, and regional trends. Finally, we learned about a public health approach for violence and the policy implications of these frameworks.
2. DAY 2: Three sections workshop. Saturday April 16, 8 am to 6 pm, Franklin Center Room 240.
Participants learned tools and frameworks from three different and complementary approaches to Urban Violence. Starting with a public health analysis of violence that considers it an epidemic disease that can be treated and even eradicated, we then moved to violence prevention initiatives and risk factors for city fragility, understanding the implications of designing policies with higher impact at the local level in Latin America. Finally, we discussed the challenges and strategies for effective implementation of those policies in the region, and the relevance of measuring the real impact of those interventions.
Participants:
- Wayne Pitts, RTI International
Wayne J. Pitts is a senior research scientist whose research interests include comparative criminology, especially in Latin America; program evaluation; and a variety of topics in survey research methods and corrections. Dr. Pitts has served as principal or co-principal investigator on numerous local, state, and federal research projects, and he has managed dozens of survey research projects using both telephone and on-line research strategies. Before joining RTI in 2012, Dr. Pitts was an associate professor and director of the Midsouth Survey Research Center at the University of Memphis for eight years. He also was employed as a senior research scientist at the Institute for Social Research at the University of New Mexico for five years.
- Enrique Betancourt, Chemonics International
Enrique is Director of the Violence and Crime Prevention Initiative for Chemonics International based in Washington, D.C. He is a trained architect and urban planner who once served as Executive Director at the National Center for Crime Prevention and Citizen Participation in Mexico. As an expert in urban innovation he co-founded CONTEXTUAL, an agency developing creative solutions to complex urban problems through collaborative and participatory design. CONTEXTUAL works to bridge the gap between research, policy design and successful implementation. Previously, Enrique served as Deputy General Director of Social Policy for the Presidency of the Republic of Mexico. He holds a Masters of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard.
- Andrés Villaveces, World Bank
Expert researcher and capacity builder on global violence prevention to design, implement and apply state-of-the-art methodologies for violence presentation operations at the World Bank. Technical advisor to decision makers and national/municipal politicians on policy design and evaluation.
- Robert Donnelly, RTI International
Experienced researcher and program officer who consolidates knowledge from his career in academia, advocacy-focused research, and international relations to advance cutting-edge research on Latin America. Mr. Donnelly’s unique skill set encompasses journalism and public diplomacy; he is experienced in managing politically sensitive relationships. An innovative network-builder, he is able to bridge bureaucracies, align incentives among multiple stakeholders, and work with team members to further program goals. Mr. Donnelly is skilled at synthesizing complex information and communicating to general and expert audiences. He is fluent in Spanish and has substantive knowledge of issues between the United States and Mexico, including security and rule-of-law topics, as well as of various migration subfields.
- Natalia Mirovitskaya, Sanford School of Public Policy
Natalia S. Mirovitskaya has been on the faculty at Duke University since 1995. Her professional focus is on political economy of development and peacebuilding. Dr. Mirovitskaya earned her Ph.D. at the Russian Academy of Sciences (Economics). She has led and participated in numerous national and international research projects and has been a recipient of many awards. Recently, Dr. Mirovitskaya and William Ascher (Co-Founder of the Duke Center for International Development) have become co-editors of a new book series “Politics, Economics and Inclusive Development” launched by Palgrave MacMillan Publishers. Economic Development Strategies and the Evolution of Violence in Latin America (2012), Development Strategies, Identities, and Conflict in Asia (2013) and The Economic Roots of Conflict and Cooperation in Africa (2013) – all three by Ascher and Mirovitskaya – are among the first books published in this new series; they intend to guide policymakers, development professionals, and activists committed to conflict-sensitive development. Dr. Mirovitskaya has worked with master’s level students and directed masters’ projects for fellows from many countries, including Zambia, Mexico, England, Argentina, Japan, Australia, Philippines, South Korea, Myanmar and Colombia.
Agenda:
Friday, April 15, 2016
Time / Activity / Location10:00 am to 10.45 am / Meet the Practitioner / Sanford 225
(201 Science Dr)
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm / Lunch with Sanford LAC representatives / Duke or Hotel
5:30 pm to 7:00 pm / Panel: Wayne Pitts, Enrique Betancourt, Andrés Villaveces
Natalia Mirovitskaya (Moderator) / Sanford 04
(201 Science Dr)
8.00pm - 10.00pm / Dinner with Sponsors and Organizers / Parizade
(2200 W Main St)
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Location: Franklin Center – 2204 Erwin Road,Room 240.
8:00 am to 8:30 am / Arrival, breakfast & introductions8:30 am to 10:00 am / Workshop 1: Latin America Security Challenges
Panel discussion
“Research and Analysis to Address Security Challenges in Latin America” (Elohim Monard, Carlos Juárez, Vanessa Uriarte) with moderator (Robert Donnelly) and discussant (Wayne Pitts)
10:00 am to 10:45 am / Discussion of Latin American security challenges and opportunities for international cooperation (Justin Dawson, RTI Intl., formerly DOJ U.S. Embassy, El Salvador)
11:00 am to 11:30 am / Brunch
11:30 am to 2:30 pm / Workshop 2:Targeted interventions to reduce urban violence: connecting evidence and implementation
Enrique Betancourt, Chemonics International
2:30 pm to 3:00 pm / Coffee Break
3:00 pm to 6.00 pm / Workshop 3: Violence and crime information systems as a tool for governance
AndrésVillaveces, World Bank
Results and Outcomes:
-50 people attended the open conference on Friday. The audience was formed by students from several schools at Duke, UNC and think tanks, non-students, faculty and staff.
-20 people attended the workshops on Saturday. Most of the participants were students from the MIDP and MPP programs at the Sanford School of Public Policy, one Political Science PhD student, a MEM student from Nicholas, and a faculty member from the Sanford School of Public Policy. Several tools and frameworks were shared and discussed with the participants. Topics and potential lecturers were identify for future events.
-On Friday morning, a Career Development meeting was organized with the Professional Development departments from the MIDP and MPP program. The guest speakers met with a group of 15 students from the undergraduate and graduate public policy program, the graduate international development policy program, undergraduate global health program, and graduate environmental management program.
-Several communication materialswere developed and distributed throughout the Sanford LAC network and all the sponsors.
In all, we accomplished what we had planned for our Seminar. We could not thank you enough for your generous support. During this academic year, we would like to keep the Office of Global Affairsupdated with the results of our Seminar. We are still in the process of finalizing an event summary, which includes a report about the workshop and a regional policy agenda.
Withourbestregards,
Ignacio Asis
Carlos Juárez
Elohim Monard
Gonzalo Pertile
Ariadne Rivera
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