We would like to begin Fundar's first bulletin of 2008 by wishing you that this year be filled with satisfactions and overcome challenges.

During this year, Fundar will continue working in order to provide useful information for Mexico 's democratic transformation. Thereby, it is a priority for our team to continue strengthening the relation with allies and counterparties, for which one of the streams which we consider growing and invigorating is, precisely, the activities focused on improving capabilities for citizen incidence. Among our activities we will carry out those directed towards building arguments for demanding the right to health and those for transmitting skills and knowledge (within our specialization fields such as: budget analysis, information access and communication for incidence) with new instruments which will allow us to obtain better results.

Regarding human rights, Fundar shall dedicate to the analysis of public institutions, focusing on historically discriminated groups, especially indigenous people, with an also innovative approximation: the quest for accountability of the Judicial Power. In a related topic, 2008 will be key for the consolidation of the Civil Monitoring of Police and Security Bodies in Guerrero´s Mountain, recently created. This initiative grew from the joint work with the Human Rights Center of the Mountain: Tlachinollan, and the Institute for Security and Democracy (INSYDE).

Other two processes in which Fundar will be involved this year shall be the follow up of the State reform and an analysis of the most relevant programs of subsides for agriculture. Finally, but not least important, we will deepen our research on oil incomes and Mexican Petroleum´s fiscal regime, in an environment that seems quite interesting: the country´s energy reform.

Therefore, in this edition of Fundar´s Bulletin you will find relevant news on processes with which our team closed last year. In an overall balance of 2007, Fundar prepared, among other things, more than half a dozen publications on several subjects of public interest; it substantially collaborated in three broad coalitions: the International Budget Project, the Collective for Transparency and the Coalition for Women´s Health (with the latter we managed the approved budget to include labeled expenditure for women which was not contemplated in the proposal). Regarding Fundar´s commitment with the transfer of citizen capabilities on budget analysis and tools for incidence, we trained more than 40 national organizations and over 30 worldwide; many of these trainings were done along with the International Budget Project.

As regards Transparency and Information Access (another strategic and transversal axis of Fundar´s activities) we achieved important legal precedents concerning information access through strategic litigation. Through the coordination of the Collective for Transparency, continuity was given to this important space for information exchange and collaboration of actors which vindicates the right to information access. Finally, we should highlight the incidence work done by the Legislative Monitor team (which coordinated more than ten information sessions in the Chamber of Deputies), which had unexpected results: the researchers were able to access meetings of the Budget and Public Account Commission and watch closely the negotiations of the 2008 budget, which is an important step for making legislative work more transparent.

We don´t have anything left but to happily announce that Fundar begins work for 2008 from its new office, located in the South of Mexico City. The official opening was delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, but we will soon distribute the invitations for the official inauguration event of Fundar´s facilities.

We hope that the facts presented in this issue of Fundar´s Bulletin are interesting to you and provide you with useful information. Do not hesitate to contact us for enquiries on any topic in which we might be helpful. Andrea de la Barrera Montppellier- Coordinator of Institutional Development.