 |
|
PBI Colombia is currently seeking field volunteers to join the team in late 2016/early 2017. Applications are due January 17, 2016. Read below for information on how to apply. This is a critical time for human rights defenders in Colombia as peace negotiations continue between the Colombian government and the FARC. Despite the negotiations and the historic agreement reached between the government and the FARC in September on a framework for transitional justice as well as a date to sign the accord (March 23, 2016), the signing of the peace accord with the FARC does not mean full peace in Colombia. Victims and human rights organizations have publicly welcomed the agreement, however, they also express concern that additional reforms must be put into place to ensure further human rights abuses do not continue with impunity, including violence committed by criminal gangs and others that are not a part of the current peace negotiations.
In the countries where we work, PBI volunteers continue to witness escalating threats and violence against human rights defenders coupled with high rates of impunity. Whether inflicted by third-party actors such as transnational corporations or state-sanctioned violence, human rights defenders are experiencing a closing of their spaces to work, including attempts to silence, restrict, and discredit them for criticizing government policies. In response to the need of protection for human rights defenders, today the Human Rights and Democracy Network (HRDN), an informal group of 48 NGOs, including Peace Brigades International, operating at the EU level in the areas of human rights, democracy and peace building, is launching a year-long campaign called Stand 4 Human Rights Defenders. The campaign will promote constructive dialogue between civil society organizations and EU actors so as to jointly identify practical actions that could be implemented by the EU in order to improve the effectiveness of its work on HRDs.
|
|
PBI Colombia team member, Ana Vicente, discusses threats to human rights defenders not covered in the peace talks
As Ana describes, a negotiated solution to the armed conflict in Colombia was a distant dream but today it is a goal that seems more attainable every day. However, in Colombia there is not only an armed conflict, there is also an economic and social conflict that will require additional protection measures to keep vulnerable populations safe in Colombia. |
In October 2015, PBI conducted an interview with Yenly M�ndez, a human rights defender who works with the Peasant Farmers' Association of the Cimitarra River Valley (ACVC for its Spanish acronym) in Colombia.
The ACVC's principle objectives are the comprehensive defense of human rights, the struggle for land ownership and land redistribution, and improved and dignified livelihoods for peasant farmers in the short term in order to lay the groundwork to bring about structural change in rural Colombia in the longer term. Based on these principles, the ACVC focuses its work on organizational, political, and educational capacity-building centered on the issues of sustainable development, sustainable agricultural, education, and health, as well as on the development of what is known as the Peasant Farmer Reserve Zone (ZRC for its Spanish acronym). In the interview, Yenly discusses how ZRCs can help protect peasant farmers from forced displacement. Click here to read the two-part interview |
Working as a field volunteer for PBI Colombia offers an excellent opportunity to gain valuable human rights experience. Volunteers are placed in a team in Bogot�, Barrancabermeja, or Urab�, accompanying human rights defenders and communities who are being threatened because of their legitimate work in support of justice and peace.
All applications (with references) received by January 17, 2016 will be considered for the training to be held in Spain (date to be determined, during the last quarter of 2016). Volunteers will be selected from the pool of applicants who attend the training. Click here to learn more and apply
|
|
|
Peace Brigades International - USA | P.O. Box 75880, Washington, DC 20013 | 202-232-0142
|
|
|
|
|
|
