Programs > By Location > North and South America
Programs By Location: North and South America
ICNL has conducted projects in the following North and South American countries:
Current Project Highlights
Honduras: ICNL is working with local partner, Federación de Organizaciones Privadas Para Desarrollo en Honduras (FOPRIDEH) on several activities to promote an enabling environment for civil society in Honduras. These activities include:
- conducting a Survey of over 100 Honduran OPDs regarding their experiences and opinions regarding the legal environment, and prepared and distributed a formal report summarizing the findings – an exercise that not only provided valuable information to be used in the law reform process, but also contributed to FOPRIDEH’s capacity in gathering and use of data in its advocacy efforts;
- assisting in the preparation of a draft NGO framework law by a working group of NGO representatives led by FOPRIDEH – an effort that has resulted in a draft much improved in its consistency with international best practices; and
- building an expanding coalition of individuals from various sectors who are knowledgeable about, engaged in, and supportive of the draft law initiative.
All activities have been designed based on an extensive, needs-based, situational analysis of the current legal environment affecting NGOs in Honduras and the capacity of FOPRIDEH in leading NGO law reform efforts.
Mexico: The third sector in Mexico is among the smallest in the world according to a variety of measures. In a country of over 100 million people and huge geographical size, only slightly more than 5,000 non-profit organizations (NGOs) have been certified to receive tax exemptions and receive deductible donations. And, although great personal wealth has been created in Mexico the last decade, philanthropic giving is a largely untapped resource for NGOs.
The lack of a growing, financially viable third sector in Mexico has direct impact on its social, economic, and political development. A vital sector would be more likely to attract philanthropic resources to support such development. Therefore, in partnership with several local Mexican organizations, (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), Incide Social, Centro Mexicano para la Filantropía (CEMEFI), and Innovación Mexico consultant, Cristina Galindez), ICNL is working to: (1) support a participatory process of drafting and promoting a revision to the current laws and regulations governing eligibility for “authorized donee status” for public benefit organizations in Mexico; and (2) build the capacity of local organizations, tax officials, academics and lawyers in issues of NGO law and leadership of NGO law reform initiatives. One accomplishment of the project and working group’s efforts is the enactment of changes to article 95 of the Mexican Income Tax Law that will, for the first time, allow human rights organizations to receive tax deductible donations.
Completed Project Highlights
Canada: ICNL was commissioned by the Canadian government to prepare a paper on methodologies to measure the impact of legal reform on the voluntary sector in Canada.
Nicaragua: Building on a background in more traditional NGO law, ICNL has provided assistance on cooperative law reform projects. In Nicaragua, ICNL assisted the National Union of Farmers and Cattlemen (UNAG in Spanish) in drafting a new cooperative law which passed the Legislative Assembly in 2004. Assistance included a report on regional and international best practices and comments on drafts of the law.