By: Jonathan Jimenéz
Selected for participation in the Community Solutions Program, a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by IREX.
I was born in 1992 in Chimaltenango, a Mayan indigenous village in the highlands of Guatemala. I am certified by the Supreme Court of Guatemala as a Law Attorney and Notary Public. I am also professor of Law at the Universidad Regional de Guatemala since 2021.
After I graduated from Law School, my father and I, who was a lawyer, both founded a small legal organization at the end of 2019 in Chimaltenango. Jiménez & Jiménez is our small legal firm located in the rural village of Chimaltenango, in which 78.2% of the population is Mayan descendants, and 68% of the population lives in poverty, according to the last population census of 2018. Our organization serves families, children, and adolescents who are survivors of domestic violence, abandonment, physical, psychological, sexual, and economic abuse. We carry out cases related to family disintegration, migration, and human rights violations. I work as a lawyer and educator in the community, facilitating access to justice by applying mediation and conciliation processes as an alternative way to resolve conflicts that do not require prosecution.
I am one of the 103 community leaders worldwide participating in the 2022-2023 Community Solutions Program (CSP) cohort. CSP is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by IREX, is a professional development program for global community leaders working on environmental issues, peace and conflict resolution (my specialization), transparency and accountability, and women and gender issues. I will be working at MHCR for the next 3 months to research the needs of migrants and refugees with a Latino background in truth and reconciliation processes in the United States of America, truth and reconciliation commissions in Guatemala, Colombia, and around the world.
Back in Guatemala, I will be developing a six-month Community Action Plan that consists of a parenting school to teach families in our community about topics related to dialogue, peacebuilding, conflict resolution, conciliation, and human rights. I will apply the knowledge and the new skills gained from my experience while living in the United States of America.
I am also excited about the IREX fellowship because I will connect with other fellows that work in their communities as agents of change, and I will gain a better understanding of the American culture by attending conferences, meetings, cultural events, and building academic relationships with people with the same vision of making the world a peaceful home.