CEPAD were told that they had to immediately stop all their development work, that their assets had been frozen and that if they wished to operate in Nicaragua in the future, they would need to re-register as a new organisation, once the legal framework for such organisations had been finalised.
CEPAD had to stop trading and make all of their staff team redundant. They are currently appealing against freezing of their assets — including bank accounts, buildings and vehicles, and are waiting to see if they will be able to register as a new organisation once the new Government framework has been finalised.
CEPAD was founded in 1972, just days after a strong earthquake destroyed the capital of Nicaragua, to help the victims of the earthquake. For over 50 years they have sought to meet the needs of desperately impoverished communities across Nicaragua — particularly isolated rural communities. Nicaragua is one of the countries most affected by the impact of climate change. For the last 15 years, this is what our support for CEPAD has focussed on.
Their model has been one of accompaniment and empowerment — enabling communities, and individuals, to use their talents and abilities to be the principal leaders in their own development — teaching, training and giving people the tools they need to sustain themselves and their families.
Working with communities for five-year cycles, CEPAD programmes have focussed on agricultural development, leadership training and education and women’s empowerment — ensuring the needs and existing resources of each community drive the projects and create the strategies needed to ensure their long-term success. This model had empowered over 4,000 communities in achieving economic stability, food security and local leadership.
For the last four years, Amos has partnered with CEPAD to empower seven communities in Teustepe, in the Boaco region, with the skills, knowledge, resources and community resilience needed to change their futures, claim their rights, overcome poverty and thrive — with programmes focusing on education, training and empowering women.
Gilberto Aguirre from CEPAD in Nicaragua tells the story of the Mama Chicken and the Elephant — a metaphor for how the relationship between international development and small grass-roots organisations can sometimes be problematic.
