Colombia is second only to Sudan in the number of people internally displaced by armed conflict and criminal violence.  USIP’s Education and Training Center/International and the Fundacion Ideas Para La Paz, a Colombian think tank, recently partnered to present two training workshops on Gender and Reintegration, Reconciliation and Reparations. In September (14-18) USIP’s ETC/I and the Fundacion Ideas Para La Paz, a Colombian think tank, partnered to present two training workshops on Gender and Reintegration, Reconciliation and Reparation.  The initiative was led by Program Officer, Mary Hope Schwoebel, who envisioned creating a space in which Colombians involved in these processes – national and regional government agencies’ personnel - and more importantly, the Colombians who are the intended beneficiaries of these initiatives - could draw upon each others’ expertise and experience to devise approaches to addressing and integrating gender into reintegration, reconciliation, and reparation in holistic and comprehensive ways.

Participants included personnel from the two government bodies responsible for these processes: female and male ex-combatants - both those who fought with the guerillas and those who fought with the paramilitaries, female victims and IDPs, NGOs who work with victims and/or ex-combatants, and gender specialists from various organizations and institutions. The first workshop took place in Monteria on the Atlantic Coast, which is an area that has experienced extensive violence perpetrated by both the guerillas and the paramilitaries and consequent displacement, and was attended by representatives of regional level government agencies. The second workshop took place in Girardot, a drive of several hours in the mountains outside of Bogota and was attended by national level government officials. USIP’s Colombia expert Ginny Bouvier, and editor of the recent USIP Publication Colombia: Building Peace in a Time of War, made a presentation in the workshops held in Girardot.

One of the concepts underpinning the workshop included the idea that both men and women have both vulnerabilities and capabilities to respond to crises. What those vulnerabilities and capabilities are will differ between men and women and they will be different in different contexts. Another of the concepts underpinning the workshop included the idea that every crisis presents both challenges and opportunities for positive social change to address those gender-based vulnerabilities. The workshop included presentations by experts and senior officials from government agencies, from NGOs working with displaced and victimized members of communities experiencing violence, and/or with ex-combatants, and Colombian feminist academicians and advocates. Many of the participants at the national  level workshop said that they appreciated the opportunity to talk to members of other institutions and other communities that did not normally talk to each other.