Project profile — Empowering Women and Youth Peacebuilders in the Colombia Border Region with Venezuela

This project aims to support women and youth in the Colombian departments of Arauca and Catatumbo, which border Venezuela, to participate in current peace efforts under the Government of Colombia’s Total Peace Policy and to increase community-based support for advocating their inclusion and reduction of violence. Project activities include: (1) providing training to youth and women social leaders from Catatumbo and Arauca to improve their capacities in communication and advocacy techniques aimed at addressing peace challenges in the Colombia-Venezuela border region; (2) conducting working sessions with these leaders to identify bottlenecks, challenges and opportunities for reducing violence; (3) training women and youth social leaders to enhance their research capabilities; (4) supporting grassroots women’s and youth organizations to conduct and publish community-based and gender-sensitive research on challenges and opportunities for addressing violence in the target border regions and present findings and recommendations to local, regional, and national governments; and (5) developing and implementing an advocacy and gender-inclusive communication strategy to prevent human rights violations and ensure protection aimed at local, regional, and national institutions responsible for Total Peace policies and local civil society organizations, including women and youth organizations.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) increased engagement or participation by civil society, women, and youth in Arauca and Catatumbo in total peace policy and human rights initiatives to improve field conditions and reduced violence in the border region; (2) increased capacity of women and youth organizations in Arauca and Catatumbo to promote their peace agendas across different participation platforms related to Total Peace initiatives, granting access to decision-making scenarios and engagement with government decision-makers; and (3) increase awareness among national government, local representatives, and local stakeholders regarding the importance of including the voices of grassroots civil organizations, their demands, and the need for a safe and inclusive environment, particularly addressing women's and youth's needs.

Results achieved at the end of the project (August 2024) include: (1) engaged 100 civil society participants from Colombia’s border region with Venezuela, including women and youth. This helped them to contribute to the implementation of Total Peace efforts and promoting human rights. This engagement includes the participation of 22 women from 14 grassroots organizations, who participated in a regional dialogue process aimed at seeking civil society contributions to the negotiation process between the Government of Colombia and the Central General Staff (Estado Mayor Central - EMC), a federation of dissident fronts of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC) that decided not to embrace the 2016 peace process; (2) enhanced the capacities of 91 social leaders to assess risk, carry out research and risk analysis, formulate and communicate positions on peace agendas targeted to particular audiences, including the national government, and rural communities; and (3) increased awareness by government authorities, the EMC and local stakeholders of the demands for peace by women and youth from Colombia’s border regions. This includes members of the LGBTI+ community, through their participation in regional dialogue processes and other regional events promoting collaboration in peacebuilding.