For the past 2 years Galen University has been offering a course on Good governance and Transparency, free of cost to appeal to youths, teachers and those employed within the public sector. Today another cohort of students was awarded their certifications of completion at a good governance forum to celebrate the occasion. Jomarie Lanza has this story.
One hundred fifty students from all across the country gathered to participate in Galen's first ever National Youth Forum On Good Governance, under a project being funded through CARSI ESF. These students spent the last 14 weeks engaged in an online course designed to teach them about good governance and transparency. Galen is the only school to offer this course and the project director told us what these students have learned so far.
Zain Dueheney, Galen's CARSI ESF Project
"So this is a 2 year project that looks at strengthening good governance and transparency at the municipal level. We have been running this project since July 2024 so we are almost at the culmination of the grant. It is a $500,000 grant under the US Central American Regional Security Initiative, or CARSI. It looks at capacity building for youth, teachers, and municipal officials. We are trying to raise awareness in the youth and give them the set of tools that will help them make better and informed decisions. "
"So we have some high school students, majority of them in fourth form and we have some university students as well. I have been one of the lead implementors and I have been traveling the country seeing the different issues many of them are facing and I can tell you from my perspective all of them have their own unique understanding of governance and we have been able to give them tools that will help them to make informed decisions, think critically we are not here to tell them how to think or what to think but we are just giving them some of these tools we think will assist when their time comes"
And one of those times will be when the next election season rolls around. Dueheney says they launched the project to combat a growing apathy among young people who feel disconnected from the democratic process.
Zain Dueheney, Galen's CARSI ESF Project
"We have seen a decline in youth participation especially when it comes to voter registration and interest in general to want to vote. I think many of them would use the word political fatigue because of social media and how digitally connected they are, we found it very important that we do our part as part of our social corporate responsibility as an institution we try to see how we can fit into this conversation and try to do our part and be actively engaged. "
Reporter:
"So you believe that this has changed their perspective and influence when it comes to going out to exercise their right to vote?"
Zain Dueheney, Galen's CARSI ESF Project
"Yes of course, not all of them can vote as yet but in the next election cycle I would say over 70% of them would qualify to vote so we are hoping we have some impact hence today's speakers we have members from the elections and boundaries department given a talk on why it is important to vote, we have an attorney Colonel Olivera giving a talk on the freedom of information act, how you can access that or how to lodge one as a citizen because it is public funds and we all have a right to know what is happening when you have those burning questions there is a process and I think giving them these tools they would know that this dispels a lot of fallacies we have where we think it can only be done by an attorney or people in certain political offices"
Good governance and transparency naturally cross over into other fields, including criminal justice. For senior Galen University student Fernando Vega, the program offered a practical way to build on his studies as he prepares to enter his final year.
Fernando Vega, 4th year Galen University Student
"So actually it was something that was brought up to us within the university as a peer mentor it really highlighted what I wanted to go ahead and do establishing those leadership skills and you know being a community member that kind of stands out overall so yeah like I mentioned it was provided to us in the university but also the university provides the course you need to take so I said why not take advantage since it is being offered by Carsi it would be a free course for me so why not take advantage of it and participate and see what it is all about."
"I am definitely satisfied, I was more than satisfied and it was a great experience overall to be apart of this program and it has set the skills and necessary knowledge I need for my future endeavors."
The initiative is also expanding into classrooms, with educators using the course to update their curriculums. Organizers say involving teachers - and soon, municipal officials - is key to ensuring the program's long-term sustainability.
Zain Dueheney, Galen's CARSI ESF Project
"We are hoping that there is continuity and the sustainability aspect of the program is that we involve teachers so before this couple months ago 45 teachers graduated and that is so that they can start integrating that into their curriculum "
Reporter:
"So this is not the first cohort? You have done teachers before? Youths, "
Zain Dueheney, Galen's CARSI ESF Project
"And then we have the graduation upcoming for the municipal officials: councillors, some deputy mayors, and technical staff at various town councils across the country."
