War on Want works with Palenque el Congal, a Colombian social movement based in the Department of Valle del Cauca in Western Colombia. Palenque el Congal works with marginalised Afro-Colombian communities, who are badly affected by the internal conflict, to enhance their civil, political, land and cultural rights.
Community-led initiatives, facilitated by Palenque El Congal, are leading to an increased awareness of basic human rights among the black population. Palenque is trying to lessen the number of communities displaced within the Valle de Cauca as a result of the armed conflict.
Colombia has suffered over forty years of civil war between leftist guerrillas and government and paramilitary forces, a conflict which has left thousands dead and caused the internal displacement of over three million people. The breakdown of the peace process in February 2002 led to further turmoil. Caught in the crossfire, most of the victims of internal conflict are civilians. Increased deforestation and land seizures associated with the proliferation of intensive farming of cash crops -- such as palm, which is used for biofuels, and coca -- have exacerbated the armed conflict and further impoverished the poorest people.
Violence in the region of Cauca has intensified the displacement of communities. The riverside communities along the Pacific coast have suffered a great number of massacres by paramilitaries and have been heavily depopulated; 452 families have been displaced from along one river alone. The people of Buenaventura, the main Pacific port, as well as the recently arrived displaced, live in acute poverty alongside a port that generates enormous income.
War on Want works with Palenque el Congal to empower communities to defend their rights in order for them to be able to respond to human rights abuses such as blockades, illegal detentions, and massacres.
| Palenque's activities |
- Capacity building for local communities through training in conflict resolution and human rights awareness
- Provision of seeds and tools to families to enable communities to grow food and distribute it amongst the poorest families
- Advocacy through dissemination of published reports at public meetings, lobbying at national, regional and local levels, and a public awareness campaign
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| The Facts |
- Displacement is the direct consequence of an internal armed conflict, which has dominated Colombian modern history
- By 2008, an estimated 3 million Colombians had been internally displaced due to the conflict
- Violence kills almost 30,000 Colombians every year
- The number of internally displaced persons in Colombia is the second-highest in the world after the Sudan
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 |  | Video: Fuelling Fear
Watch a video about how human rights abuses and violence in Colombia are linked to the increase in the production of palm oil, a biofuel. | |
