Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala

What is NISGUA? The Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) The Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) works in the U.S. and Guatemala to strengthen the global movement for justice, human dignity, and respect for the Earth. Formed in 1981, at the height of Guatemala’s Internal Armed Conflict, NISGUA’s network today is comprised of thousands of people across the U.S. who demand justice, challenge corporate-led development, and push to change current U.S. policies. Using strategies that include international human rights accompaniment, digital organizing and communications, horizontal exchange, rapid response activism and advocacy, and campaigns, NISGUA builds mutually beneficial, cross-border networks to support social and environmental activists in Guatemala. For more information visit www.nisgua.org.

The Guatemala Accompaniment Project (GAP) of the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) trains and places qualified candidates as human rights accompaniers. Accompaniers work as human rights observers, providing an international presence to Guatemalans organizing in defense of their rights in a variety of contexts, including precedent-setting genocide cases and local opposition to mega-projects. Accompaniment is one tool used in response to the threats, harassment, and violence faced by survivors of Guatemala's 36-year long civil war, grassroots organizations working for justice, and indigenous communities combating destructive mega-development projects on their land.

What do human rights accompaniers do? Accompaniers work as human rights observers, providing an international presence to Guatemalans organizing in defense of their rights in a variety of contexts, including precedent-setting genocide cases and local opposition to mega-projects. Accompaniers work in pairs, travel between the capital and an assigned region, share in rural life, observe and report on conditions, monitor the human rights situation and provide a link to the international community. NISGUA trains volunteers and matches them with groups in the U.S. that support the accompanier’s stay, both financially and personally.