WEBINAR #3 "PEACE EFFORTS IN COLOMBIA: CURRENT CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES"

IFOR-International Fellowship of Reconciliation, together with FOR Peace Presence and FOR Austria, is pleased to invite you to the

WEBINAR #3 of the ANNIVERSARY WEBINAR SERIES

“20 YEARS OF INTERNATIONAL ACCOMPANIMENT IN COLOMBIA”

May 7th 2022 at 5pm CEST on Zoom

International Fellowship of Reconciliation - IFOR, together with its branch IFOR Austria - VersöhnungsbundPeace Presence and its affiliate Peace Presence, is pleased to invite you to the webinar #3 "Peace efforts in Colombia: current challenges and opportunities" of the ANNIVERSARY WEBINAR SERIES.

The webinar is scheduled for May 7th 2022 at 5pm CEST.

This webinar #3 will focus on ongoing peace work highlighting challenges and opportunities and will present specific peace building experiences such as the peace community peace Comunidad De Paz San José De Apartadó and the humanitarian space Espacio Humanitario Puente Nayero and other local experiences with the participation of IFOR Swedish branch Kristna Fredsrörelsen, Swefor.

Our main speakers will be:

- Jose Roviro Lopez, Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado

- Nhora Isabel Castillo, Humanitarian Space Puente Nayero, Buenaventura

- Henry Alberto David, Life and Work Community La Balsita, Dabeiba

- Miriam Heins, SweFOR Choco Office Coordinator

- Irmgard Ehrenberger, FOR Austria

Moderators: Zaira Zafarana (IFOR), Manuel Müller (FOR PP), Michaela Soellinger (FOR Austria)

The webinar will provide more information on how to support such peace efforts and partner with local actors

Participating individuals and organizations will have the possibility to raise questions and engage in a direct exchange to explore opportunities to get involved and contribute to peace efforts in Colombia.

Register at bit.ly/20FORPP and participate!

The webinar will be in English and Spanish.

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Click here to read about webinar #1

Click here to read about webinar #2

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IFOR-International Fellowship of Reconciliation, 

junto con FOR Peace Presence y FOR Austria, se alegra de invitarle al 

WEBINAR #3 de la SERIE DE WEBINARIOS DEL ANIVERSARIO

Descarga el flyer aquí

"20 AÑOS DE ACOMPAÑAMIENTO INTERNACIONAL EN COLOMBIA"

7 de mayo de 2022 a las 5pm CEST en Zoom

International Fellowship of Reconciliation - IFOR, junto con su rama IFOR Austria - VersöhnungsbundPeace Presence y su afiliado FOR Peace Presence, se complace en invitarle al webinar #3 "Esfuerzos de paz en Colombia: retos y oportunidades actuales" de la SERIE DE WEBINARIOS ANIVERSARIOS.
El webinar está programado para el 7 de mayo de 2022 a las 5pm CEST.
Este webinar #3 se centrará en el trabajo de paz actual destacando los retos y oportunidades y presentará experiencias específicas de construcción de paz como la comunidad de paz Comunidad De Paz San José De Apartadó y el espacio humanitario Espacio Humanitario Puente Nayero y otras experiencias locales con la participación de la rama sueca de IFOR Kristna Fredsrörelsen, Swefor.

Nuestros principales ponentes serán:
- José Roviro López, Comunidad de Paz de San José de Apartadó
- Nhora Isabel Castillo, Espacio Humanitario Puente Nayero, Buenaventura
- Henry Alberto David, Comunidad de Vida y Trabajo La Balsita, Dabeiba
- Miriam Heins, Coordinadora de la Oficina de SweFOR, Chocó
- Irmgard Ehrenberger, FOR Austria

Moderadores: Zaira Zafarana (IFOR), Manuel Müller (FOR PP), Michaela Soellinger (FOR Austria)

El seminario web proporcionará más información sobre cómo apoyar estos esfuerzos de paz y asociarse con los actores locales.
Las personas y organizaciones participantes tendrán la posibilidad de plantear preguntas y participar en un intercambio directo para explorar las oportunidades de involucrarse y contribuir a los esfuerzos de paz en Colombia.
Inscríbete en bit.ly/20FORPP ¡y participa!
El webinario será en inglés y español.

Comparte en Facebook aquí

Haga clic aquí para leer sobre el seminario web nº 1
Haga clic aquí para leer sobre el seminario web nº 2

IFOR stands with human rights defenders and addresses the case of Buenaventura in Colombia, at the 46th Human Rights Council

El 15 de marzo de 2021 el Movimiento Internacional de Reconciliación - International Fellowship of Reconciliation - IFOR ha abordado la situación en Colombia y ha pedido a los Estados miembros del Consejo de Derechos Humanos de la ONU y a la Oficina del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos que presten atención a las violaciones en Buenaventura.
La declaración ha sido pronunciada en el plenario de la 46ª sesión del CDH por María Eugenia Mosquera Riascos, una defensora de los derechos humanos colombiana que ha recibido recientemente amenazas por su trabajo; María Eugenia colabora con Presencia de Paz Peace Presence y es miembro de Conpaz.
Puedes ver la declaracion grabada aqui.

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On March 15th International Fellowship of Reconciliation - IFOR addressed the situation in Colombia and called on the member States of the UN Human Rights Council and on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights "to give attention to the violations in Buenaventura (Colombia), an area where there are many foreign economic interests and to urge the national government to implement the peace agreement, to dismantle the surviving structures of paramilitarism, to fulfil the Acuerdo del Paro Cívico de Buenaventura and to prioritise social investment and not militarisation."
The statement has been delivered in the plenary of the 46th session of the Human Rights Council, by María Eugenia Mosquera Riascos, a Colombian human rights defender who has recently received threats for her work; María Eugenia collaborates with Peace Presence and is a member of Conpaz.

Human Rights Council, 46th session
Geneva, 15 March 2021
Item 4: Human rights situations that require the Council's attention
Oral statement delivered by the International Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Madam President,

The Final Peace Agreement was an important step towards overcoming the social and armed conflict. However, the government's unwillingness to implement it has made the human rights situation increasingly deplorable.
According to the report presented by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "In 2020, 76 massacres were documented, involving the death of 292 people, and 248 peace signatories have been killed". 1
My name is María Eugenia Mosquera Riascos, family member of a victim, human rights defender and member of the Association of Victims Communities Building Peace in Colombia 2.
In this opportunity we present a situation that requires the Council's attention, the case of Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca, where human rights violations, threats, assassinations, forced disappearances, extortion, displacement, dismemberment, confinement, recruitment, sexual violence and expropriation of collective territories are on the rise. Terror is imposed by paramilitary-type structures that operate despite heavy militarisation.
In this context, in January I received threats 3, which are directly related to my work of accompaniment and defence of human rights in this part of the country.
We call on the Member States and the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to pay attention to these situations of violations in Buenaventura, an area where there are many foreign economic interests; to exhort the national government to implement the Peace Agreement, to dismantle the remaining paramilitary structures; to comply with the Acuerdo del Paro Cívico de Buenaventura 4, to prioritise social investment and not militarisation.

Thank you.

 [Translated from the original in Spanish]

1. https://www.hchr.org.co/documentoseinformes/informes/altocomisionado/HRC46-Informe-anual- 2020_traduccion-no-oficial.pdf

2. CONPAZCOL https://comunidadesconpaz.wordpress.com/

3. FOR Peace Presence y otras organizaciones escribieron una carta pública sobre estas amenazas

4. https://www.mininterior.gov.co/content/gobierno-logra-acuerdos-para-levantar-el-paro-civico-en-buenaventura

• You can download the English version of the statement here

• You can download the original statement in Spanish here

• You can watch the recording of this General Debate of the session of the Human Rights Council here (IFOR's statement is at 02:35:59)

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IFOR collaborates with both organizations for the promotion and protection of human rights and the implementation of peace.

CONPAZ - Comunidades Construyendo Paz en Colombia is a network of 140 victims’ organizations, present in 14 departments where the armed conflict still continues. Apart from its challenging work to strengthen community processes CONPAZ has presented decisive contributions to the peace negotiations in Havana, and is worried about its security situation.

In the framework of the peace negotiations CONPAZ proposed an alternative model of transitional justice, restorative justice, focused on reconciliation and investigation of the truth.

The Fellowship of Reconciliation Peace Presence (FORPP) is a non governmental organization dedicated to providing international accompaniment to communities and individuals at risk in Colombia who are working to promote human rights, peace and justice.

FOR Peace Presence provides physical safety, political visibility and solidarity by accompanying communities and organizations that embrace active nonviolence to defend life, land and dignity. FORPP started as a program of IFOR's U.S.A. branch and then, in 2014, FOR Peace Presence constituted itself as an independent organization.

UN Geneva: IFOR Condemns Ongoing Attacks in Colombia

On March 22, during the general debate following the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' report on the situation of Human Rights in Colombia, IFOR delivered a statement that spoke to the experiences of its members in Colombia. 

IFOR Fellow Martina Lanza delivering IFOR comments during the High Commissioner's Report

The statement was delivered by IFOR Fellow Martina Lanza and it underlined our concern for the ongoing attacks against human rights defenders and on the militarization of the country, even after the peace accords. To read the full statement please click here. 

(video of the remarks can be viewed here).

IFOR has deep relationships with human rights defenders in Colombia. IFOR is represented in Colombia by SERPAJ-Colombia and IFOR branches from Sweden, Austria, U.S., and the U.K. work collaboratively to provide protective accompaniment to human rights defenders in several regions of the country. The coordinated work of IFOR Austria, U.S. and U.K. is organized as FOR Peace Presence. IFOR members have accompanied the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó for the past 15 years. 

Join an International Delegation to Colombia!

Fellowship of Reconciliation Peace Presence, an effort supported by several branches of IFOR,  is organizing the Longing for Peace International Delegation April 18 – 27, 2017. 

FOR Peace Presence provides physical safety, political visibility and solidarity by accompanying communities and organizations that embrace active nonviolence to defend life, land and dignity.

Colombia is going through an historic but uncertain period. The results of four years of peace negotiations between the government and the FARC-a comprehensive agreement on five areas related to the conflict-was rejected by voters in October 2016 by the narrowest of margins. The Colombian Congress later approved the agreement on November 30th. Amid the hope of what the agreement means concerns about the future of implementation remain. 

The delegation will meet with local human rights defenders; human rights and environmental NGOs' women peace leaders; young Conscientious Objectors; Afro-Colombian, indigenous and small scale farmer leaders; and displaced communities. The delegates will learn about the impacts of corporations, and how global demand for energy is devastating communities and destroying vital ecosystems. 

For more information about FORPP or the delegation please visit their website here.