ICMA has announced a new partnership with Creative Associates International, Inc. (Creative) to reduce youth crime and violence in Panama in the USAID-funded Community Youth-at-Risk Program. ICMA will support the goal of improving sectoral capacity to provide coordinated and comprehensive responses for at-risk youth, with a focus on strengthening the Child and Adolescent Unit of the Panamanian National Police (CAPU).
In collaboration with Creative and its partners, ICMA will:
- Provide technical support to CAPU to develop an operational and training plan to improve their capacity to deliver more effective youth crime and gang prevention initiatives at the national and local level.
- Provide support to CAPU in facilitated problem solving methods with communities and youth that promote dialogue, forums for permanent discussion, and decision-making around youth and gang violence.
- Support municipal efforts to provide better services to at-risk youth and collaborate with community groups, the private sector, national police, and government initiatives.
- Build linkages with currently funded USAID crime prevention programs through its different components, including CityLinks and regional information-sharing, to strengthen local municipal capacity to address youth violence through better prevention planning and resource allocation.
- Share regional best practices and lessons learned from the region and the U.S. with Panamanian municipalities.
ICMA has also been helping Central American municipalities develop innovative violence prevention programs since signing a $1.5 million cooperative agreement with USAID last year.
The program, Municipal Partnerships for Violence Prevention in Central America, which continues through September 2012, seeks to promote comprehensive local-level violence prevention strategies and programs with stakeholders, foster development of regional peer knowledge networks that will be self-sustaining in the future, and provide training and technical assistance to local governments and community groups in coordination with police and other local-level programs.
ICMA has worked in Central America since 1991. In addition to country-based programs in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, ICMA administered the USAID-funded Regional Partnership for Decentralization and Local Governance in the Americas. Through this initiative (1998-2006), ICMA worked to promote best practices and share leading-edge technologies aimed at strengthening democracy and local governance.
Methane to Markets Partnership: Basic information about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Methane to Markets Partnership program.
2009 Report: The U.S. Government’s Methane to Markets Partnership Accomplishments: EPA’s report shows that in 2008, U.S.-supported M2M projects achieved methane emissions reductions equivalent to more than 26 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, roughly the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 4.7 million passenger vehicles.
Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP): The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s voluntary assistance and partnership program that promotes the use of landfill gas as a renewable, green energy source.
EPA M2M Grants: EPA has conducted a request for proposals in each of the past three years and has posted information on all the resulting awards on the Methane to Markets project tracking system:
ICMA provides career opportunities in global programs for international development specialists and short-term pro-bono opportunities for local government subject-matter experts.
Career Opportunities
ICMA utilizes our members who are interested in international engagement for a variety of long-term and short-term assignments on donor-funded programs worldwide. We highly recommend that you submit your CV directly to ICMA’s Global Programs Team by emailing us at global@icma.org and including a short summary bio with your technical areas in the body of the email. We will save your CV in our internal database and may call upon you based on technical need.
Pro-Bono Opportunities
By providing pro-bono support, local government chief administrators and their staff have been instrumental in the success and innovation of ICMA's global programs for many years. Their strong practical knowledge and daily management experience enhance the credibility and quality of peer-to-peer learning.
The relationships that grow out of an international training and/or technical assistance activity often continue far beyond the life of the funded project, as participants exchange information, best practices, and even visits for years to come.
To sign up for ICMA's pro-bono opportunities list, go to the ICMA Volunteer Interest Form and check the boxes that correspond to your interests. As a next step, we recommend that you complete this Google Form (5-10 minutes) to identify your experience level and technical areas of expertise.
Preparing for International Opportunities
If you have not worked or volunteered internationally but would like to, ICMA can help you prepare.
Each year at the ICMA Annual Conference, we offer a pre-conference workshop to enable attendees to gain first-hand knowledge of international pro-bono and paid work opportunities. We help members understand:
- How you can use your skills to address the challenges faced by governments to deliver services, promote economic development, create sustainable growth, and improve the quality of life for citizens around the world.
- The prerequisites, challenges, and benefits of international work focused on strengthening local governance.
- The goals and expectations of the donor community and trends in international development.
- How ICMA’s international funded programs advance professional local government through leadership, management, innovation, and ethics.
You can register for the workshop when you register for the ICMA Annual Conference.
