Project profile — Building Peace with Colombian Indigenous Communities

• Colombia (100.00%)

• Government And Civil Society, General: Women's rights organisations and movements, and government institutions (15170) (50.00%)
• Conflict Prevention And Resolution, Peace And Security: Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution (15220) (50.00%)

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (not targeted)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (not targeted)
• Youth Issues (not targeted)
• Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR) (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• Nutrition (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)

The project aims to promote the protection, safety, empowerment and dignity of vulnerable Indigenous communities, especially women, in 9 municipalities of the Departments of Nariño and Antioquia in Colombia. These municipalities have been the most affected by the armed conflict, and present high rates of poverty, presence of illicit economies and institutional weakness. The project supports the priorities outlined in the sections of the Colombian Peace Agreement that grant official status to Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities. Project activities include: (1) providing training and working group sessions to improve Indigenous community protection mechanisms, which include the active participation of Indigenous women; (2) providing training and working group sessions to increase knowledge on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) within communities, and work to prevent and respond to SGBV; (3) organizing activities to strengthen the knowledge of state institutions, particularly the Ombudsman Office, on Indigenous rights, with a focus on the rights of Indigenous women, including survivors of the conflict, and disabled people; (4) supporting local and national advocacy for gender-responsive protection mechanisms, in line with the Colombian government’s commitments in the Ethnic Chapter; and (5) strengthening the capacity of Indigenous women to participate in decision-making spaces.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased access to protection mechanisms for the Indigenous communities of Antioquia and Nariño, with a particular focus on women and girls; (2) improved responses to the protection needs of the Indigenous groups in Antioquia and Nariño, particularly those of women and girls, by Indigenous protection mechanisms and State institutions; (3) increased capacities of Indigenous women and girls to claim their rights and engage in the reduction of SGBV; and (4) increased capacities for gender-inclusive dialogue between Colombian protection stakeholders, ethnic authorities and civil society at national, departmental and municipal levels.

Results achieved as of December 2021 include: (1) trained 5062 Indigenous people (3736 women and 1326 men) on Human Rights, prevention and support to Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) survivors; (2) trained 166 local civil servants (109 women and 67 men) from the security, justice and social service sectors on protection mechanisms, inter-relations between the Indigenous law system and the Colombian law system, and human rights, especially women and girls’ rights; (3) implemented gender-sensitive protection mechanisms in nine Indigenous communities in Nariño and Antioquia; and (4) provided protection equipment that increased visibility and communication capacities of the Indigenous Guard to 34 women and 46 men Indigenous Guard members in three municipalities of Antioquia.

• Proactive disclosure