REINTEGRATION THEMATIC AREA
This thematic area promotes the effective inclusion of female signatories in the social, political and economic dynamics of civil life that promote coexistence, reconciliation and non-stigmatisation. This involves applying a gender approach to the design, implementation, and sustainability of reintegration projects, enabling them to achieve greater economic and social autonomy and to consolidate their life projects.
This specifically responds to:
- Supporting the design, implementation, and sustainability of reintegration projects that incorporate the practical needs and expectations of female signatories, thereby enhancing and strengthening their social and economic autonomy.
- Providing comprehensive psychosocial support with a gender-sensitive approach to facilitate their transition to reincorporated life.
- Strengthening female signatories in both technical and soft skills to promote their access to greater employment opportunities and/or productive enterprises, ensuring greater stability in their new personal, family, and community realities.
Education, resistance and words: Violeta’s revolution
Violeta, carries a name that is synonymous with legacy and promise. Her mother chose this name in homage to the Chilean singer-songwriter Violeta Parra, whose words inspired her 22-year-old self to take the reins of her life and become an advocator of social justice, gender equality and the right to tell her story using her own voice.
She was born 33 years ago in Bogotá, but her story is deeply marked by uprooting. Her family, originally from rural areas and members of the Patriotic Union, fled Meta and Guaviare in the 1990s, escaping the political persecution that claimed the lives of several relatives. They took refuge in Bogotá for a time, but when Violeta was just six years old, violence forced them to migrate once again – this time to Vichada.
There, among the savannahs and plains, her mother opened a small shop, and her father returned to working the land. However, the isolation and lack of basic services led her parents to send her to Villavicencio to attend secondary school, where she witnessed firsthand the presence of the FARC-EP in rural areas. Later, when she returned to Vichada, she saw that guerrilla group retreat in the face of the advance of paramilitary forces led by alias Cuchillo, and once again her life was filled with uncertainty and frustration.
Her dreams of studying agronomy were cut short, but in 2011 she made a decision that would mark a turning point: she joined the FARC-EP through the Clandestine Communist Party. There, she found her place in communications and political education, contributing to the ideological schools in the south-eastern region of the country. In 2017, following the signing of the Peace Agreement, she was relocated to the former Territorial Area for Training and Reintegration in Pondores, La Guajira.
There, she led educational reintegration and community communication processes, becoming one of the key voices in the development of a territorial plan aimed at decentralising the reintegration process and strengthening social integration. Her leadership led her to become part of the COOMPAZCOL cooperative and to co-found the “Red de Medios Desde Adentro” network and the newspaper Corresponsalías Populares — initiatives supported by the Fund, in partnership with the media outlet Las 2 Orillas.
These spaces have not only served to democratise information and raise awareness of territorial processes, but also to amplify women’s voices and demonstrate that they too can — and must — be active narrators of their own history and of the transformation of their communities.
In 2020, Violeta returned to Bogotá to be closer to her family and resume her academic life. Today, she is soon to graduate as a psychologist, and she continues to champion popular education as a tool for peace. She dreams that her proposal, “Pedagogy of the Movement,” will be recognised by the Ministry of Education, and that the Desde Adentro Media Network will become a national alternative, with a presence on both radio and television.
For Violeta, planting ideas, words and conscience is another way of starting a revolution. And her story shows that it is possible to transform the conflict into a project, marginalisation into dignity, and words into the bridge to reconciliation.
Her story has been key to showing that, with the right tools, it is possible to rebuild one’s life and contribute to community healing processes. In her own words, having opportunities allowed her to believe in herself and forge a path toward new dreams of progress. Violeta transformed her life by choosing autonomy and leading projects that amplify the voices of female signatories and communities in La Guajira. She was the driving force behind the Corresponsalías project, funded by the Fund, aimed at strengthening the capacities of social organisations, community media, and steering committees. This initiative succeeded in reaching communities through informed dialogue on the progress and challenges of the Peace Agreement and the Development Programmes with a Territorial Focus (PDET).