On April 25, we hosted a webinar with three human rights defenders about the impact of COVID-19 on human rights in Colombia. In such a challenging time, we were grateful to hear from folks around the world about their concerns for human rights defenders and to discuss...
Peace and Nonviolence
Grassroots Peacebuilding and Reconciliation
by Michaela Söllinger, IFOR Austria (This article was also published with minor changes in the Austrian magazine Spinnrad, Vol. 4 (2019)) Picture 1: Sunset over Guaviare harbor Picture 2: Fishing pond in main hamlet of San José de León How does reconciliation happen?...
Meet our new accompanier: Enrique
Enrique is a social leader, human rights defender and member of the victims’ network Communities Constructing Peace in the Communities (CONPAZ). In 2017, he was selected the Human Rights Defender of the Year in the national awards for human rights, granted by Diakonía...
Meet our new accompanier: María Eugenia
María Eugenia is from the outskirts of Popayán, in the department of Cauca. She studied ethno-education at the University of Cauca. Her family member was a victim of an extrajudicial execution, which motivated her to get involved in peace-building work. She is a...
Blanquita-Murrí and a Plan for Life
After a four-hour jeep ride through thick forest and passing over waterfalls, the valley of Blanquita-Murrí, Frontino, Antioquia opened up in front of us. Wide forests and grasslands surrounded the main settlement of the high mountain plain, which is the hub for the...
Reflections on Returning to the Peace Community
by Tom Power When we arrived in the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó for Christmas, former accompanier Emily and I didn’t really know what to expect. Neither of us had been there for some time, but we were excited that the Peace Community was going to have...
“There will never be true peace, until we eliminate hatred within our hearts as a country.”- Peace Community Leader
The following piece and pictures were originally published in Spanish by our Accompanier Dianna E Almanza. When I see the sunrise, I see how mother nature awakens around me, As if time stood still, As if this very precise moment that I am living, were to last for a...
Interview with Enrique Chimonja Coy, “Defender of the Year”
"A human rights defender is someone who consciously acts on their profound sensitivity for life, and who does it in act of love and commitment for the lives of others." Para la versión en Español haz click acá. Since 2014, FORPP has accompanied Human Rights activist...