PrintSupporting Alternatives to Violence in Colombia
Training Displaced Communities to Resolve Conflicts and Secure Human Rights Protections
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With the support of USIP, in 2009, CESTRA (Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones para el Trabajo) provided training in human rights and conflict resolution to residents living in the impoverished outskirts of Bogota that are home to many of Colombia's displaced persons. Thus far CESTRA has:
- Trained 90 community leaders in Cazucá over a period of one year in two structured modules—the first on community justice and conflict management, and the second on community participation in guaranteeing human rights
- Systematized these training modules
- Selected 30 of these trained leaders to replicate the workshops
- Produced a board game and other educational products
- Produced two community newsletters
- Organized a “festival of life” with the participation of local authorities to share information on the entire process
Building on these successful trainings, CESTRA secured additional funding from USIP to refine its training approach and conduct a second set of trainings in human rights and conflict resolution for 80 civil society leaders. This new project includes three different levels of training designed to accommodate the diversity of its participants, which include men and women with years of leadership experience, as well as emerging leaders who are creating their own community organizations.
Background
The urban zone of Cazucá, on the periphery of Bogotá and Soacha, hosts the largest concentration of internally displaced populations in Colombia. In addition to living in extreme poverty, these victims of displacement--including communities of indigenous, Afro-Colombian, and campesino origin--are frequently subject to repeated victimization by illegal armed actors. For the most part, these displaced communities are unaware of their rights and of the constitutional mechanisms in place to protect them and to defend themselves. CESTRA’s human rights and conflict resolution training seeks to build the capacity of residents to advocate for the protection and promotion of their rights.
Activities
Activities
The project is fostering peaceful alternatives for conflict resolution and the defense of human rights in highly vulnerable communities in Colombia. CESTRA’s workshops are noteworthy for their unique methodologies which include games, participatory community mapping, and field trips, and accommodate a wide variety of learning styles and educational backgrounds. Through both of their USIP-funded projects, the CESTRA team has made important strides in consolidating local community ties and training trainers to promote community justice, resolve conflicts, defend human rights, and build peace. The project is also making it possible for the project beneficiaries, through an analysis of their problems and needs, to construct alternatives and viable proposals to address the violence in their communities. CESTRA hopes to build on the experiences of these first two successful projects and secure funding to establish and operate a permanent School for Peace in the outskirts of Bogotá.
Project Director: María Tila Uribe, Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones para el Trabajo (CESTRA), Bogotá, Colombia