By Judith Faucher, International Projects Funding Officer
On February 10, 2022, Development and Peace – Caritas Canada announced the launch of the project Voices Without Borders in Defence of Lives and Land as part of Component 2 – Support for one-time projects – of the Nouveau Québec sans frontières (New Quebec Without Borders, NQSF) program. With financial support of $675,000 from the Quebec government’s Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie (MRIF), this international solidarity project ended on March 31, 2024, having been successfully implemented in Colombia, Honduras and Quebec.
The project directly reached 3,715 people, including 1,400 in Colombia, 1,296 in Honduras and 1,019 in Quebec. As a result, the vulnerable communities targeted by the project in Colombia and Honduras have been strengthened in the defense of their territory and in the defense of human rights, including environmental rights, in order to pursue their struggle to build societies based on peace, reconciliation and social and environmental justice, where living conditions are improved in a sustainable manner. In addition, members and supporters of Development and Peace – Caritas Canada in Quebec were sensitized and mobilized on the various local issues in Colombia and Honduras, and on the essential work carried out by local partner organizations through various Global Citizenship Education (GCE) activities.
Young people and women mobilized by audiovisual and artistic creation in Colombia
In Colombia, the work of our local partner, the Asociación Campesina de Antioquia (The Antioquia Farmers’ Association, ACA), has enabled six peasant communities to develop training processes in audiovisual, artistic and cultural expression and creation as a tool for strengthening community organization and the defense of human, environmental and territorial rights. This work was carried out in coordination with organizations and social movements contributing to the search for justice and the construction of peace in Colombia.
More specifically, the project supported five ACA flagship initiatives, namely:
- Audiovisual training and production school for young farmers affected by the armed conflict in Colombia.
- The Peasant Network of Biodiversity Documentary Filmmakers, for young farmers interested in local biodiversity and campaigning for its promotion and protection.
- The “Itinerant Farm Cinema Club”, which brings cinema and documentaries to remote rural communities, and the audiovisual documentary festival “Image of memory”, which works on historical memory with a view to building peace and reconciliation.
- Rural cultural centers (meeting places for training and community activities in remote rural communities), including artistic creation workshops.
- Publication of multimedia material and networking.
To find out more about the project in Colombia, read the project newsletters (available only in French) created by ACA:
Young leaders and community correspondents trained and supported in Honduras
In Honduras, the work of our local partner, ERIC-Radio Progreso (Team for Reflection, Investigation and Communication), has strengthened and empowered communities in vulnerable situations and social organizations to implement an integrated human rights and environmental strategy that generates changes in policies and/or practices at local and/or national level in favor of the Honduran population.
More specifically, the project supported six ERIC-Radio Progreso leading initiatives:
- The Citizenship and Political Training School (EFPC) for young leaders.
- Radio Progreso’s network of community radio correspondents.
- Strengthening the advocacy capacity of grassroots social organizations and promoting local, national and international alliances in defense of human rights and common goods.
- Accompanying communities in advocacy actions in defense of natural resources and territory, including the community of Guapinol, at the center of an emblematic territorial struggle.
- The production of research and analysis tools, including public opinion surveys and situational analyses.
- A social communications strategy to commemorate the struggle of emblematic cases, land defenders and human rights defenders murdered for their commitment.
Solidarity links created with Quebec
Thanks to the GCE component of the project, we also raised awareness and mobilized Quebecers, including young people, by creating opportunities for exchange, learning and networking with our local partners. In all, some thirty GCE activities were organized, enabling our members and the general public in Quebec to acquire or consolidate their knowledge of international solidarity, while strengthening their motivation to take action on international solidarity issues. Among these activities, the visit to Quebec of two solidarity visitors – Raquel Soto from ACA and Elvin Hernández from ERIC-Radio Progreso – gave impetus to our 2023 awareness-raising and mobilization campaign, “Stand for the Land”, in defense of the threatened community of Guapinol in Honduras, and enabled us to collect over 56,000 signatures in support of the community’s demands.
Another highlight of the project was the virtual participation of our two partners in the Local Communities at the Heart of Biodiversity Defense event in collaboration with the Collectif COP15 and the Association québécoise de solidarité internationale (AQOCI), which took place on the sidelines of COP15 (15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity) in Montreal in December 2022. It enabled partners, Development and Peace – Caritas Canada members and the Quebec public to better understand and connect with the biodiversity COP process. This will facilitate future connections with the process, particularly at the next COP 16 in Cali, Colombia, in November 2024, at which the ACA plans to participate in person at the spaces open to social organizations, together with our program officer for Colombia, Anne Catherine Kennedy.
Finally, three short documentaries were also produced. Discover them here:
Development and Peace – Caritas Canada is grateful to MRIF for its support of the project Voices Without Borders in Defence of Lives and Land, and for the positive impact of the NQSF program.
