Member of the Month: April

Escuela de Paz– Schools of Peace Foudation, Colombia is an NGO founded in 2001. The activities of the Schools of Peace started in 1997 as a school project, in 1999 joined with other 5 schools, and started a collective construction of peace education programs. Due to this program in December 1999, Schools of Peace won the Ibero American Santillana Award in Peace Education.

Our work in Colombia could be seen as a model of working for peace in a country, which is involved in an armed situation. Working in a country stricken by high rates of violence implies both inconveniences and opportunities at the same time. Predictably, inconveniences are related to the experience of violence – at direct, structural and cultural levels – in Colombian society. But there are opportunities that emerge from recognition of this reality. In such a way, the understanding of the damages brought by the conflict situation plays as a booster for the undertaking of reconstruction and reconciliation programs in the middle of the armed conflict. We saw the need to invite all of civil society to work for the cultural change through the Culture of Peace. Therefore, we welcomed local NGOs to work together in a collaborative way along with public administrators in order to include Culture of Peace programs in the public policy agenda.

Our current programs are:

Cathedra Guillermo Gaviria Correa for the promotion and consolidation of the Culture of Peace and nonviolence. Its target groups are public administrators, teachers, NGOs, community-based leaders and civil society.
Schools Observatory of Citizens Competences in the framework of the Culture of Peace and Human Rights. The beneficiaries of this project are teenagers and youngsters in vulnerable conditions, and the school's educative community, including teachers, parents and the Soacha County.
Municipal System of Schools Coexistence (7 Schools in Soacha). The social and economic situation of the municipality of Soacha is complex. In spite of the efforts of many public and underprivileged organisations, many children and young people have seen their rights harmed. This situation impelled UNICEF–Colombia, Schools of Peace and Cooperacion Colombia to direct their attention to the situation of this municipality, to stimulate direct actions to improve the quality of life of adolescents and young people, to generate a culture of respect of youth rights by supporting the development of youth–oriented public policies. Direct impact: 250 people (students, teachers, mothers and fathers).
Bogota Human Rights Cathedra: Support of the NGO to the consolidation of the public policy, which includedparticipants of 38 schools of 4 neighbourhoods and 6 schools in Ciudad Bolivar. Education to PEACE is, given its meaning, an unquestionable demand of our time. The action of the civil society cannot wait anymore.

Our projects aim to take action and position associated entities as main actors for lobbying and campaigning on topics such as social conflictuality, raising awareness of violence among young generations, which we project the entire human race will be facing in the 21st century. For this sake, the sharing of experiences and work methods between entities committed to peace education is a fruitful opportunity.

At the moment, our purpose is to continue enriching the network at a national level, for we are convinced it will decisively contribute to the creation of a sharable peace education expertise. Our belief is that PEACE is the main goal of human rights.