You may have heard us talking about the Casa Madre (in English, The Mother House), a gathering space for collective reflection and peacebuilding in Blanquita-Murrí. You may be wondering how we got here, what we are doing in Blanquita-Murrí, and why are we here. Our...
Peace and Nonviolence
Palestina, Huila: 40 years searching for the disappeared
August 30, 2023. We find ourselves standing at the entrance to Palestina, Huila – a tiny municipality found in the south of Colombia and nestled amongst the Macizo Colombiano, an extensive geographic region from which many of Colombia’s most important rivers and...
Commemorating the Past
On July 8th, FORPP accompanied the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartadó in the commemoration of a massacre that occurred twenty-three years ago. The massacre, perpetrated by paramilitaries in the settlement of La Unión, occurred despite the presence of state...
Colombian Civic Leader Offers a Grassroots Strategy for Peace
Nine months into new efforts by Colombia’s administration to achieve “total peace” with remaining armed groups following decades of civil war, that process should make room for the nation’s thousands of grassroots and community organizations to strengthen peace...
2022 Year in Review
Despite escalating conflict in 2022, leading to the murders of 189 human rights defenders (registering 18 more than the year before), we can look back on a challenging but successful year for FOR Peace Presence. Do you want to know more about our work over the past...
Total Peace: A Chance to Increase Human Security in Colombia?
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), there are currently six different armed conflicts in Colombia. In addition, criminal groups are active in many regions throughout the country. Decades of war have resulted in 8.8 million victims. In the...
FORPP Team Member Maru Wins the 2022 Women Building Peace Award!
We are thrilled to share with you the big news that our compa and team member María Eugenia, or Maru as known by friends and communities, is the recipient of the United States Institute of Peace's (USIP) 2022 Women Building Peace Award! Besides being part of the FORPP...
FORPP Team Member Maru Selected as Finalist of the 2022 Women Building Peace Award
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) announced the six finalists for the 2022 Women Building Peace Award. The Women Building Peace Award is given each year to a woman peacebuilder who has made a major contribution to preventing conflict, combatting violence and...