WUNRN
Global Fund for Women
WEBSITE INCLUDES VIDEO.
COLOMBIA - WAYUU WOMEN'S POWER -
COURAGEOUS INDIGENOUS WOMEN
DEFENDING LAND, RIGHTS, LIVES,
AGAINST COLOMBIA ARMED CONFLICT, DISPLACEMENT, & CORPORATE INVASION
For many
years Colombia has been a violent conflict zone with a displaced
population of over 4 million, 60 percent of which are women.
COLOMBIA - WAYUU WOMEN'S POWER
For
more than 50 years, indigenous communities have been caught in the crossfire of
Colombia’s civil war between guerilla groups, paramilitaries, narcotics
traffickers and government forces. Declarations of neutrality by indigenous
groups like the Wayúu people
have done little to protect them from the violence and human rights abuses.
Recognizing isolation and lack of representation as barriers to bringing
abuses to light, in 2003 a group of Wayuu women created the Cabildo
Wayúu Nóüna de Campamento (Wayúu Women's Power). The Cabildo
note that while the Colombian government spends 67 percent of its budget on
military operations to promote so-called “security,” it is either incapable or
unwilling to stem the cycle of atrocities destroying indigenous communities.
Hundreds of indigenous leaders have been killed without consequence; massacres
and displacements of entire communities are common occurrences.
Therefore, the Cabildo advocate for the inclusion of indigenous people in the
peace-building process, particularly war-affected women, who make up the
majority of displaced people in Colombia. They also raise awareness about the
impact of militarization on their communities. In its short history, the
Cabildo has formed extensive alliances with other indigenous and women’s movements
across Colombia to strengthen their collective call for reconciliation and
justice.
A 2007 grant from the Global Fund made it possible for the Cabildo open the
first-ever House for Wayúu Women, a community center where the testimonies of
women affected by the conflict are heard. The group is currently documenting
these cases of human rights violations to present before the Colombian
Constitutional Court. The Cabildo believe that by
recognizing their rights and negotiating capacity, the Colombian Government
will be in a better position to negotiate a peace agreement with armed rebel
groups.
In the past three years, the Global Fund has awarded the Cabildo $27,500, some
of which they used to train Wayúu human rights defenders. Gaining strength from
unity, the newly trained indigenous leaders are now involved in the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) and
represented Colombia’s national indigenous movement at the UN Forum for Indigenous Peoples. By
linking with local, regional and national movements and bringing their shared
agendas to international human rights bodies, Wayúu women are giving hope to
entire communities who have for too long endured cycles of violence and are
eager to lend their voices to the struggle for peace.
Profile written by Kelly Mc Vicker, Development Officer at the Global Fund for Women
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