The role of external agencies in the development of El Mezquital in Guatemala City

This paper describes and discusses the role of different international agen cies (including UNICEF and the World Bank) and NGOs in supporting developme nt in El Mezquital, a settlement formed from a land invasion in Guatemala C ity the mid-1980s. If draws on interviews with the inhabitants and with sta ff from supporting agencies. The support from these international agencies and NGOs allowed considerable improvements in infrastructure and service pr ovision, and supported important processes of community empowerment and gre ater status and possibilities for women. However, the paper also describes the limitations of this support, including the limited scope for participat ion, the projects that were planned and never implemented and the problems that the international support failed to resolve. It also describes the res entment from groups within the community with regard to what was achieved.