Find the original article here (Spanish version).
Full article translated:
"The "Community Reincorporation" memory gallery opens its doors to offer an intimate and powerful look at the transformation underway in Catatumbo, thanks to the initiative of PASO Colombia, a program of the One Earth Future Foundation. The images, captured in collaboration with the Catatumbo Peace Network, reflect the joint efforts of communities committed to building peace in a region affected by violence, poverty, and inequity.
The Catatumbo Peace Network, promoted by PASO Colombia, operates hand in hand with seven associative forms of peace signatories, with the active participation of farmers and an association mostly composed of women who have left coca crops behind. This peace-building model seeks to transform the territory through environmentally sustainable productive initiatives, rebuilding the social fabric at the local and regional levels.
The exhibition, hosted within the framework of the Catatumbo Peace Network, is a window into the concrete progress that has been made in the territory. Among the projects highlighted are:
- 3 biofactories
- 6 seed banks
- 1 agroforestry system
- 3 nurseries
- 2 collection centers
- 1 warehouse
- 3 drying centers
- 25 farmers' markets
- 2 commercial alliances
- 9 home gardens
These achievements have been possible thanks to the collaboration with institutional partners such as the Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander - Seccional Ocaña, the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, the National Open and Distance University (UNAD), the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN), the Solidarity Unit, the National Learning Service (SENA), the World Food Program (WFP), MERCY CORPS, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace (OACP) and the Directorate for the Substitution of Illegal Economies (DSCI).
PASO Colombia, as a program of One Earth Future, promotes the collective work of peace-building communities in places affected by violence, poverty, and inequality. It co-creates and implements collaborative projects that promote sustainable development based on the resources and capacities available in the territories, connecting these communities with the knowledge, institutions and markets necessary to make their initiatives sustainable. The exhibition "Community Reincorporation" is a visual testimony of this constantly evolving process."
