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New Video Documentary: Changing Women’s Lives in Colombia

It is wonderful to see the results of a project you have been working on for many years, especially when they are positive. For the last 20 years, WILPF Colombia has supported women affected by the conflict, bringing them the tools, knowledge and opportunities to transform their lives.

Image credit: WILPF
WILPF International Secretariat
11 April 2019

It is wonderful to see the results of a project you have been working on for many years, especially when they are positive. For the last 20 years, WILPF Colombia has supported women affected by the conflict. They are the one in the most vulnerable situation. The Section has brought them the tools, knowledge and opportunities to transform their lives. Their stories are a message of hope.

Here remains life

With the help of a local audiovisual school, WILPF Colombia, or LIMPAL Colombia as they call themselves, has made these stories alive in a video documentary. In only four months, they succeeded to manage the coordination with the students and the interviews on the field. The results are eye-opening. The students did a great job in portraying the stories of these women. They carefully selected part of the interviews in a way to include all the women and ensure to share their messages.

Leonardo Lopez, professor at the Politécnico Grancolombiano school and director of the documentary, said that “one of the biggest difficulties was to create the confidence, in such a short time, with the women in order for them to feel at ease in sharing certain experiences.”

YouTube video

A positive long-term effect

The documentary shows how LIMPAL Colombia has helped women to change their lives. Mayda Roldan, the regional coordinator of LIMPAL Colombia’s Meta branch, states that she has  “realised that what we LIMPAL Colombia do is to help, support and show ways through which women can build their lives, their dreams.”

The women in the documentary can now envision a future and be agents of change. They are educating the next generation to stand for their rights and invite them to be part of the movement.

“Wherever there is a LIMPAL-women, a new woman is transformed,” says Rosalba Mahecha, a member of the Section. Indeed, the members of LIMPAL Colombia know they are valued and that their contributions are creating changes.

Sharing resources: a win-win partnership

While the Politécnico Grancolombiano school contributed with its equipment, expertise and ideas, WILPF Colombia increased the students’ knowledge about the issues faced by women.

The Section participated in a workshop about gender issues hosted by the director of the documentary and will organise a conference at Politecnico later in 2019 about women’s rights in audiovisual productions.

When asked, Sara, one of the girls who worked behind the camera, said: “Working in the creation of this documentary made me grow on a personal and professional level, but especially as a woman. I realised that we [women] are capable of many things and this made me aware of the collective force that we have in order to generate change. Getting to know these women, what they had to go through, and how they managed to move on and unite, made me appreciate myself more as a woman and fight for what I deserve.”

We hope this unforgettable experience will lead Sara to be part of the peace movement, as well as many other women in Colombia.

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WILPF International Secretariat

WILPF International Secretariat, with offices in Geneva and New York, liaises with the International Board and the National Sections and Groups for the implementation of WILPF International Programme, resolutions and policies as adopted by the International Congress. Under the direction of the Secretary-General, the Secretariat also provides support in areas of advocacy, communications, and financial operations.

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Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

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WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

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Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.

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