Traditions pour Demain

About us

Traditions pour Demain (Traditions for Tomorrow) is a non-profit independent non-governmental international network with no denominational or partisan affiliation. Mainly run by volunteers, it is composed of its members and individual donors. Since 1986, Traditions for Tomorrow accompanies initiatives of cultural assertion of dozens of peoples and minorities, amounting to hundreds of indigenous communities in Central and South America.

Traditions for Tomorrow is also involved with national and international government bodies, such as UNESCO, WIPO and the UN, to work on international norms and national policies, including:
• cultural rights of indigenous peoples,
• safeguarding of the living cultural heritage,
• protection of cultural diversity.

Initiatives accompanied by Traditions for Tomorrow, all small-scale projects, are designed and carried out by the actual beneficiaries in rural areas of a dozen countries. They deal with a variety of fields, such as dance, oral tradition, music, the media, creeds, know-how, alternative education and capacity of building competences.

Our philosophy
Restore the sense of confidence, dignity and self-esteem amongst indigenous peoples of Latin America marginalized due to their ethnic origin; a prerequisite to taking their own future in hand. This goal is pursued by accompanying cultural initiatives designed and carried out by the actual beneficiaries: dedicating cultural environment and identity to the future.

Our goals
• Contribute to the protection and promotion of living traditional values and cultural expressions of indigenous and Afro-American communities in Latin America by granting a moral, technical and financial spur to their initiatives for the safeguarding of their cultural expressions.
• Take part in raising awareness of States and international organizations, provide our support to the implementation of cultural policies and engage in defining international, regional and sub-regional legal standards regarding indigenous peoples, intangible cultural heritage and the diversity of cultural expressions. Traditions for Tomorrow has a consultative status with UNESCO, ECOSOC (UN) and WIPO and is member of the ONG-UNESCO Liaison Committee.

Our projects:
• over 600 projects supported since 1986, with some 60 indigenous peoples in 12 Latin American countries: Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Afro-American communities in Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia.
• two types of projects: safeguarding of traditional cultural expressions (language, music, dance, theater, oral tradition, media, traditional medicine, traditional creeds, etc.); implementation of bilingual-intercultural informal education programs (training for teachers, school material publication, support to primary schools, literacy, school libraries, etc.)
• average annual budget: around US$ 300’000, including about 10% allocated to overheads.

Diego Gradis is the Founder and President of Traditions pour Demain (Traditions for Tomorrow).

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.