Training Course on Poverty Studies for Young Researchers from Central American and the Caribbean 2009

The fourth on-site training course of this kind was organized by the CLACSO-CROP Programme and the Inter-universitary Centre for Studies of Latin America and the Caribbean (CIELAC).

The objective of the course was to contribute to develop and strengthen
skills in social science research in general and in poverty and social policy in
particular, between young professionals in the social sciences of countries
in Central America and the Caribbean. Eighteen Young Researchers from
9 countries participated (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua,
Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Haiti), and had been
selected from 97 submitted proposals.

During five intensive working days, the participants discussed theoretical
concepts, the state of the art of poverty studies, and reviewed the main
themes of the problematic. Further, the participants were part of lectures
and debates on both qualitative and quantitative methodologies appropriate
for research on poverty. The activity continued with a phase where the
participants put into practice the skills they had acquired. It continued as a
virtual workshop with the tutoring in methodology by Professor Luis Serra (Nicaragua) during the second trimester of the year.

During the second half of the year, we have disseminated the call for proposals
for the 2010 training course, which will take place from the 1st to the
5th of March in Panama. We received 58 proposals, and the Academic
Committee formed by Marco Gandásegui (Panama), Asunción St. Clair
(Norway) and María Pía Otero (Argentina) selected two candidates from
each Central American and Caribbean country represented among these
proposals (Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic).

Six participants in the training course went on to receive Fellowships.