Twenty AVINA partners in Ecuador mobilized civil society to ensure participation in the drafting of the country’s new constitution, approved on September 28, 2008, after a 64% voter turnout. AVINA provided technical, financial and strategic support to the process. According to AVINA partner Milton Luna, approximately 80% of the proposals presented by his Social Contract for Education movement were included in the new constitution. AVINA partners also influenced issues relating to water, economic solidarity, multinationalism, gender equity and youth.

AVINA partner Enrique Alvarez assisted in drafting the framework for Guatemala’s Law on the National Security System, working through the nation’s Advisory Council on Security and within the framework of a Security Commission established for that purpose. The approval and implementation of this law represents a significant step forward for the justice system in Guatemala as it promotes, among other things, the system’s decentralization, enhancing prompt and effective enforcement.

The Nossa São Paulo (“Our São Paulo”) movement has achieved results unprecedented in terms of Brazilian municipal governance and transparency. After leading a process of coordination with civil-society organizations, companies, political leaders and São Paulo’s city council, the movement was successful in passing Amendment Nº 30. This legislation was inspired by the model of the Bogotá Cómo Vamos movement and requires the compliance of municipal executives with a program of performance monitoring under penalty of the termination of their mandate.