HOW THE ORGANISATION OPERATES: PROJECTS AND COLLABORATIONS

In this section you will find a few examples of projects and collaboration that Planeta Paz has made throughout its existence. Planeta Paz collaborates with several associations spread over the country and identifies some of these associations and their activities as “territorios de paz''.

Los territorios de paz

Grupo de Mujeres Campesinas Construyendo Presente y Futuro

Planeta Paz has supported the Fundación San Isidro with the creation of the Grupo de Mujeres Campesinas Construyendo Presente y Futuro. This project is located in the framework of the Foundation that operates to strengthen the processes that generate partnership economies for sustainability and the sustenance of the communities of the countryside. Women’s empowerment is fostered, among others, through their economic independence and their participation and management of decision-making processes and actions of economic nature. The Grupo de Mujeres Campesinas Construyendo Presente y Futuro focuses on these processes of autonomy, self-recognition and self-determination that are based on the idea of creating economic spaces for women to allow them to be a fundamental part of a productive process. They can, then, recognize themselves as people capable of deciding processes, rather than as helpers in them. The members of this group promote agroecology through gardens cared for by several of them, and then the products are brought in the Mercados Campesinos as a way to generate and improve their income. The collaborations with this group, Planeta Paz and other local realities has allowed the Fundacion to strengthen the economic processes, transform practices and empower peasants in their territory, giving them the space to be the protagonists in their food autonomy and collective and equitable work.

Planeta Paz collaborates with the Red de Mujeres para el Empoderamiento Político y Económico de la Provincia de Vélez. This initiative was born in 2006 and is focused on the transformation of the lives of women. The goals of the network are the elimination of all types of violence against women, the fostering of political participation, empowerment and economic autonomy. Also, there is the will of reaching the public sphere in order to influence, propose, execute and achieve goals in the short and medium term. It’s precisely for this purpose that the project Fortalecimiento de la organización y la participación política en Santander was born. The project was carried out through a set of meetings to dialogue, learn and teach about the political participation of women in different municipalities of the province. With this project, the association has contributed to the peace-building through the participation of women in local and provincial institutional spaces. Empowerment, resistance and the different types of violence that women have to cope with are the themes afforded in the meetings. An important feature of this project is the strong link and reference to the regional environment in which they operate: the aim is the transformation of the rooted machista culture to a culture of peace. The struggle of these women is to overcome poverty, demanding government support for productive projects in the rural area of Velez, since rural development is an important axis to build territorial peace, in addition to the recognition of women as subjects of rights.

Fortalecimiento de la organización y la participación política en Santander

Para pero Prepárate

Another relevant territorio de paz identified by Planeta Paz is the Red de Mujeres Rurales del Norte de Bolívar, a territory that has been particularly affected by the conflict, not only the armed conflict but also the social and political ones. Women have been victimised more than other subjects, and are, therefore, a crucial group for the construction of peace. In the framework of the organisation’s agenda regarding women’s rights, the Red de Mujeres has initiated a campaign called “Para pero Prepárate” that concerns sexual and reproductive education. The general aim of the campaign is the reduction of pregnancies among girls and adolescents through the provision of training and information to adolescent women and men on sexual and reproductive health. Other objectives are included in the association’s strategy for this campaign: contribute to the promotion of the sexual and reproductive rights of women, prevent gender-based violence, especially sexual violence against women and children, activate care services that concern medical, psychological and legal care, influence the implementation of existing public policy related to sexual and reproductive rights and gender violence, especially sexual violence. The Red de Mujeres Rurales del Norte de Bolívar works to generate spaces of trust and community so that women of the local communities can share their feelings, their tragedies, their loss and their successes