Lesson-101335-18

At present in the Mexican context, a "capacity-building" project approach is more relevant than the "complaints-based" approach that has been used so far. Prior to engaging in a productive dialogue with the government and employers, workers' organizations first need to be sufficiently structured in order to have a minimum degree of representativeness and legitimacy. The lesson learned is, thus, that in the current Mexican context, a “capacity building” project approach for unions would be more relevant for a larger number of workers than a "complaints-oriented" approach that attempts to address only a small number of specific violations. While important and relevant, such a "complaints-based" approach can quickly become very time consuming and resource intensive. In this regard, in view of the limited time that is left for the project, the priority for the remainder of the implementation period should be shifted towards the short-term outcomes and activities that pertain to capacity building. In addition, the success of the Solidarity Center's contribution to the project (or lack thereof) should be measured based on indicators associated with the specific medium-term outcomes and short-term outcomes that are related to worker outreach and capacity building, and less on the number of violations identified and complaints documented, filed, etc.