SER is a private non-profit institution with national outreach, created in 1980. SER is made up of professionals and specialists committed to promote development and full citizenship. SER is working in partnership with citizens, local governments, social organizations, NGOs and other public and private institutions at local, regional and national level.
Mission:
Objectives:
To contribute to the exercise of citizenship rights in rural areas and to the building of a democratic society;
To contribute at local level to capacity building for the strengthening of democratic institutions and for the improvement of living standards of the rural population.
To affirm the urgency and the need to promote people’s autonomy and freedom, as well as the building of a society based on equity and tolerance
Activities/Main areas of work:
SER organizes its work around two principal programmes, each of which is then structured around some principal lines of action
DECENTRALIZATION AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE: this area of work aims to contribute to decentralization and democratic governance processes for local and regional development. Among the lines of action that characterize this programme area, are:
Institutions and sound governance: it promotes sound, democratic and transparent management of regional and local government bodies.
Access to justice: it aims to promote the right to equal access to justice in all instances, customary and statutory, in a quick, economic and efficient way.
Citizenship, participation and inclusion: it seeks to promote and enhance the exercise of citizenship’s rights, as well as citizen participation in social and political processes at the local and regional levels.
Memory and reparation: it promotes the process of reconstructing a collective memory of the internal armed conflict, while promoting public policies of reparation, as a basis for strengthening democracy and good governance in the country.
WATER AND SANITATION PROGRAM: its main objective is to contribute to access to sustainable water supply and sanitation for rural and marginal urban dwellers. Among the lines of action that characterize this programme area, are:
Communal Organizing: aimed at encouraging community participation in projects formulation and implementation.
Infrastructure: aimed at building water and sanitation infrastructures in rural and marginal urban areas.
Training Water Users Boards: fosters sustainable water management by training the WuA and related water operators, favouring partnerships and roundtable discussions with local governments.
Health/Hygiene education and environment: aimed at promoting proper use of water and latrines among the people, as well as proper hygiene practices and environmental preservation.
Capacity strengthening of local governments (Municipalities): intended to offer training and technical assistance to the municipality technical team on water/sanitation-related issues.
Specialized consultancies: specialized consultancies in water and sanitation projects to public and private institutions at national level.
Coverage:
Peru
Beneficiaries:
population affected by armed violence in Peru, rural population, local governments.
Membership/Affiliations SER developed a number of institutional partnerships and alliances over the last few years, so to emphasize the need for joint action(s) as per its Institutional Strategic Plan. It is part of the following networks, among others:
Civitas, Red Internacional para la Ciudadanía
Gripo Chorlavi
Red Interamerica para la Democracia - RID
Grupo ALLPA
Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos
