Tumaco, 09/11/2019

In the formerly called Training and Reincorporation Territorial Area (ETCR) in La Variante, in Tumaco (Nariño), 74 Farc - Ep ex - combatants build their new life project together with their family.

As part of the Colombian Government's commitment to the process of Reincorporation of the former members of the Farc - Ep, the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN) initiated the implementation of gender - focused community projects.

In the sector of La Variante in Tumaco (Nariño) two initiatives are developed in this line. The first is supported by the British Council and is aimed at strengthening the active citizenship of ex - combatant women, their impact on public affairs, promoting women's agendas at the territorial and national levels, as well as promoting and preventing sexual and reproductive rights. This strategy was designed in conjunction with the Gender Technical Bureau of the National Reincorporation Council (CNR – Mesa Técnica de Género del Consejo Nacional de Reincorporación - for its acronym in Spanish).

Diego Bastidas, ARN Attention Point coordinator in Nariño, indicated that "300 women from 10 departments of the country, including former Farc - Ep ex - combatants and community, participate in these gender - focused workshops. In La Variante, 25 women are part of the group that develop this project, 9 of them are in the process of being reincorporated. We have also been working with the Men in the March Foundation (Fundación Hombres en Marcha – in Spanish) and UN Women on a project called Pazicfico Territory, men and women for peace, which addresses the issue of co - responsible masculinities with men living in the ETCR."

This second initiative focuses on preventing violence against women, generating strategies for social change and peace - building, through the generation of community response actions for prevention, protection, resilience and attention to gender - based violence, through leadership strengthening; in addition, the impulse of masculinities for peace.

These two strategies will be developed in an articulated way to ensure a comprehensive treatment on the subject.

Interesting Data

• 21 women and 51 men in the reincorporation process live in the formerly called ETCR in La Variante.
• 10 departments of the country participate in the initiative led by the ARN and the British Council, and it is implemented in the so - called Training and Reincorporation Territorial Spaces (ETCR) Santa Lucia (Ituango), San José de Oriente (Manaure), Pondores (Fonseca), Las Colinas (San José del Guaviare), La Guajira (Mesetas), La Variante (Tumaco), Caño Indio (Tibú), and in areas of Mutatá, Pasca and Cali.
• According to the National Register of Reincorporation, 25 % of the Farc - Ep former members in the reincorporation process are women (2,608).