Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Sch of Languages, Cultures and Societies
Abstract
Building Trust for Truth-Telling is an arts-based project which facilitates the inclusion of former child soldiers, and guarantees the representation of their voices, in Colombia's official narrative of the civil war. It is a collaboration between the Colombian Truth Commission, universities, grassroots civil society organizations and artists from the UK and Colombia. The Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence, and Non-Repetition in Colombia (the 'Commission') has recognised it has an urgent evidence deficit. The Commission has asked us for help to approach former child soldiers, in particular, and has asked us to work with this group, using co-production techniques, to capture their history, to elicit testimony and provide concrete recommendations for the non-repetition of conflict. This project is therefore intended to build trust and foster the inclusion of the marginalised voices of these former child soldiers through creative methods. Specifically, our aim is threefold:
(a) to provide the Commission with testimony based on life-story narrative exchanges/interviews for inclusion in its official report and in so doing also capture the history of an important event ('Operation Berlin' see below), largely ignored in the historical archive to date.
(b) to reflect upon the efficacy of co-production techniques to engage with the legacy of sensitive historical moments in, and ultimately beyond, Colombia.
(c) to use these reflections to inform an animation based on the collected testimonies and build a tool for peace-building education purposes, on which recommendations for non-repetition reconciliation can be made, promoted and consolidated more widely.
Testimony will be elicited via a series of arts-based workshops in which participants will both interview and be interviewed among themselves. By encouraging participation in these exchanges, we will create a safe space in which confidence and resilience can be built with others, who share similar stories.
The project will give special attention to testimony on 'Operation Berlin.' In 2000, the Colombian army launched an attack against the Arturo Ruiz column of the FARC outside the town of Tibú in the north east of the country. More than 20 child soldiers were killed in the attack, but the facts about what happened remain unclear, and the army has been accused of covering up the atrocity. At least 10 survivors of this incident have committed to taking part in our project. These participants will be sharing their stories at an official level for the first time.
Colombia's sustained violence 'shapes not only how external actors perceive Colombia, but how individuals and communities perceive themselves, construct memories and identity, and create and share beliefs and values' (Dancey and Morrison, 2019, p.34). It has created what Steiner (2005) terms a 'negative identity' and not only causes trauma in individual lives, but also restricts the Colombian people's ability to 'imagine a different future' (Sanford, 2006, Dancey et al, 2019).
Artistic and cultural interventions seek to engender peace and reconciliation through encouraging the creation of 'new imaginaries', of new ways for groups of people to think about society, captured in images and stories (Taylor, 2004).
The focus of peace-building projects, particularly those working with young people, often aims to place an emphasis on the importance of new narratives, which stay close to the participants' voices and offer strategies for resilience, whilst also acknowledging the legacy of violence. Our intention in the project is to stay as close to the participants' voices and stories of lived experience as possible, whilst also creating a safe space for critical reflection on the legacy of the past for participants today. In so doing, our research will make an urgent, and necessary, contribution to Colombia's peace process, and research on arts-based coproduction in peace-building.
(a) to provide the Commission with testimony based on life-story narrative exchanges/interviews for inclusion in its official report and in so doing also capture the history of an important event ('Operation Berlin' see below), largely ignored in the historical archive to date.
(b) to reflect upon the efficacy of co-production techniques to engage with the legacy of sensitive historical moments in, and ultimately beyond, Colombia.
(c) to use these reflections to inform an animation based on the collected testimonies and build a tool for peace-building education purposes, on which recommendations for non-repetition reconciliation can be made, promoted and consolidated more widely.
Testimony will be elicited via a series of arts-based workshops in which participants will both interview and be interviewed among themselves. By encouraging participation in these exchanges, we will create a safe space in which confidence and resilience can be built with others, who share similar stories.
The project will give special attention to testimony on 'Operation Berlin.' In 2000, the Colombian army launched an attack against the Arturo Ruiz column of the FARC outside the town of Tibú in the north east of the country. More than 20 child soldiers were killed in the attack, but the facts about what happened remain unclear, and the army has been accused of covering up the atrocity. At least 10 survivors of this incident have committed to taking part in our project. These participants will be sharing their stories at an official level for the first time.
Colombia's sustained violence 'shapes not only how external actors perceive Colombia, but how individuals and communities perceive themselves, construct memories and identity, and create and share beliefs and values' (Dancey and Morrison, 2019, p.34). It has created what Steiner (2005) terms a 'negative identity' and not only causes trauma in individual lives, but also restricts the Colombian people's ability to 'imagine a different future' (Sanford, 2006, Dancey et al, 2019).
Artistic and cultural interventions seek to engender peace and reconciliation through encouraging the creation of 'new imaginaries', of new ways for groups of people to think about society, captured in images and stories (Taylor, 2004).
The focus of peace-building projects, particularly those working with young people, often aims to place an emphasis on the importance of new narratives, which stay close to the participants' voices and offer strategies for resilience, whilst also acknowledging the legacy of violence. Our intention in the project is to stay as close to the participants' voices and stories of lived experience as possible, whilst also creating a safe space for critical reflection on the legacy of the past for participants today. In so doing, our research will make an urgent, and necessary, contribution to Colombia's peace process, and research on arts-based coproduction in peace-building.
Title | A Dangerous Party Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. Vaupés is on the frontlines of Colombia's perpetual drugs war. The vast waterways of the region form new trafficking arteries for dissident factions of the now demobilised Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who ship cocaine and marijuana to Brazil. It is also where the young are disappearing and their elders are too scared to report it. There is no rumble of battle in the dense, pristine rainforest, but in the past three years, officials estimate that dozens of indigenous children and teenagers have been lured into dissident factions of the guerrilla. Some go by choice, brainwashed into thinking they are heading for a better life, others are ploughed with alcohol or simply abducted. Official statistics show that more children and teenagers are being forcibly recruited by armed groups in Colombia than before the signing of the peace deal with the FARC rebels in 2016. Almost 300 children were forced to join a guerrilla or paramilitary group in 2018, up 73% on the previous year. The United Nations believes these numbers are the "tip of the iceberg" because most cases go unreported. The animation explores how teenagers are ploughed with alcohol and drafted into war. A story of deception. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | A Gun Doesn't Make You A Man Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The armed conflict between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla goes hand in hand with the rise of cocaine production. The FARC engaged in drug trafficking to fund their struggle to overthrow the state. Many of those working on coca farms were integrated into the insurgency and the guerrillas provided security for the cocaine producers. During their insurgency, the FARC also relied upon a network of urban militias to provide intelligence and logistical support. These undercover operatives infiltrated state institutions, gathered information on potential kidnap victims and targeted youngsters for recruitment and indoctrination. In 1998, about 1,500 FARC guerrillas participated in the offensive on Mitú, the capital of Vaupés. 12 hours of intense fighting followed. The insurgents took over the city for 72 hours, taking advantage of the government's powerlessness to send reinforcements. Officially, ten civilians were killed, but locals say the real number was significantly higher. In 1994, the Colombian government began to encourage individual rebels to desert the FARC. Under the scheme, ex-combatants received housing, food, healthcare and clothing as part of an official reintegration programme. The FARC became significantly weaker during the presidency of Alvaro Uribe between 2002 and 2010. "Plan Colombia," financed by the United States, was a multi-million dollar programme, which created an anti-cocaine and counter-insurgency strategy. Cocaine production in Colombia dropped by 72% between 2001 and 2012 as a result. The success of Plan Colombia paved the way for successful peace negotiations. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | A Loyal Commander Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. Indigenous communities have suffered different waves of recruitment, some massive, but also selective. Many children and adolescents see participation in armed groups as an opportunity to respond to pressing problems such as hunger and the need for recognition, which they sometimes lack due to feeling abandoned or ignored. As part of the 2016 peace agreement, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) officially became a political party, but some factions refused to give up their weapons, including the First Front, which operates in Vaupés as well as other regions. Dissident factions of the FARC are largely involved in organised crime, especially drug trafficking. The animation explores saving yourself and your friends from the horrors of war and how greed killed off ideology for one young guerrilla. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | Born Again Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. In 1999, the Revolutionary Armed Forced of Colombia (FARC) pledged to the United Nations that they would not recruit children under 15, but the guerrillas did not keep their word. Even during peace talks with the government between 2012 and 2016, they admitted that they continued to recruit youngsters. Under international law, it is illegal for any armed group to recruit children and teenagers under the age of 15. However, several international treaties of which Colombia is a signatory raise this age to 18-years-old. The victims of sexual violence inside the FARC say forced abortion was a policy of the guerrilla to guarantee the rebellion and prevent their camps from being overrun with children. In 2016, a report from the Colombian state prosecutor said there were at least 214 cases of girls who were "subject to rape, forced sterilisation, forced abortion, and other forms of sexual violence" at the hands of FARC. The animation explores how violent and alone, a woman emerges from war. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | Dressed In Green Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. Many of the youths recruited by the guerrillas in the Vaupés region were taken from their schools, according to local authorities. The relentless landscape becomes an impossible commute to and from classrooms, so the vast majority of students in the region are enrolled in boarding school, which have become, and continue to be, hunting grounds for the guerrillas. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown. |
Title | Everyone Knew They'd Be Back For Me Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation explores the story of a woman saved by her neighbours, but forced to flee her home. How one girl escaped the grip of paramilitaries. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | Fake Friends Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation explores feeling threatened by those who are supposed to protect you. How the Army uses children for intelligence. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | How They Tried to Buy My Brother animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation is a tale of one family's terrifying impotence to save their son. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | I Can't Go Home - Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation is about a miraculous escape from FARC dissidents. One girl's bravery and trek through the jungle. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown. |
Title | I Got Lost In A Dark World Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation explores when you become good at violence. One former paramilitary battles with his conscience. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | I Grew Up Alone Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation explores when you have no family in a country of conflict. How one boy just wants to belong. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | Mi Historia film and audio visual database |
Description | Please see http://mihistoria.co for the multimedia content produced, which includes: 80 videos https://mihistoria.co/category/secciones/video/ 14 podcasts https://mihistoria.co/category/secciones/audio/ 5 photoessays https://mihistoria.co/category/secciones/fotografia/ 108 written articles and features https://mihistoria.co/category/secciones/leer/page/18/ 12 educational "how to" videos (for use in the classroom) https://mihistoria.co/category/periodismo-en-el-aula/ |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Impact | The films have had great reach and been taken up by other international websites, including the US Government. The project has also garnered a good deal of international and national press coverage (e.g. https://mihistoria.co/category/secciones/sala-de-prensa/ ) |
URL | http://mihistoria.co |
Title | My Childhood Was An AK-47 Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation explores how how one boy's dreams of becoming a footballer were destroyed by war. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | New Toys Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation is a terrifying story of sexual abuse |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | Red and Black Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation explores how 'they' said it was a revolution, but really it was just forced labour. A story of deception. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | The Anatomy of Murder Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation explores how killing others is also to kill yourself. A hitman sees the light. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | The Day I Saw The Light Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation explores using love as a tool of recruitment. One girl's lucky escape from the FARC. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | The New Life Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation explores how grief and revenge led one teenager to take up arms. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | The Saviours Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation explores the super hero tackling forced recruitment. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | The Test Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation explores when staying alive means killing the girl of your dreams. A tale of bravery and love in the middle of war. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | You Become Numb Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation explores when rape becomes routine, numbness is the only to way to survive. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Title | You Get Used To Violence Animation |
Description | A Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers: Animation for Inclusion and Peacebuilding in Colombia animation. The animation explores wow wanting friends and making money pulled one teenager into a world of violence. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Unknown |
Description | The project captured the testimony from over 20 former child soldiers about their experience of the Colombian conflict. The project focussed, inter alia, on questions around intersectionality, looking at the experience of women and girls in the FARC. In addition to this the project also uncovered the truth about the experience of child soldiers who were victims of the army's 'Operation Berlin', interviewing people involved on both sides of the conflict. |
Exploitation Route | THe project has generated new testimony about the experience of child soldiers involved in the Colombian conflict. It has also developed a model of engagement with young people interested in using participatory animation as a method for engaging with difficult histories in order to support peace building and transitional justice. |
Sectors | Education Government Democracy and Justice Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
URL | https://changingthestory.leeds.ac.uk/projects/building-trust-for-truth-telling-among-former-child-soldiers-animation-for-inclusion-and-peacebuilding-in-colombia/ |
Description | The most significant impact of the award has been its contribution to the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-repetition. Our films have been received into the archive of the commission. We will also be producing a series of recommendation that have emerged from our work. |
First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
Sector | Education,Government, Democracy and Justice |
Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
Description | Additional journalism training |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | In addition we conducted additional journalism training with 100 "special correspondents" in: Mitú, Vaupés (14-18 Feb 2022 with 20 youths); Algeciras, Huila (16-19 March with 20 youths); Yopal, Casanare (10-12 August 2022 with 25 youths); Tumaco, Nariño (13-15 July with 20 youths) and Valencia, Córdoba (14-17 Sept with 20 youths). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Building Trust For Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers - Dissemination event (round 4) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Dissemination workshop: Participants used the animations to share their experiences and create recommendations for the non-repetition of conflict to be submitted to Colombian Truth Commission. 40 children at risk of being recruited by armed groups attended the dissemination workshop in Cáceres, Antioquia on 12/12/20. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Building Trust For Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers - Dissemination workshop (round 1) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Participants used the animations to share their experiences and create recommendations for the non-repetition of conflict to be submitted to Colombian Truth Commission. The workshop took place in Bogotá with 20 former child soldiers on 28 November 2020. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Building Trust For Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers - Dissemination workshop (round 2) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Participants used the animations to share their experiences and create recommendations for the non-repetition of conflict to be submitted to Colombian Truth Commission. 60 former child soldiers participated in the workshop in Bogota (Nov 2020). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Building Trust For Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers - Dissemination workshop (round 3) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Participants used the animations to share their experiences and create recommendations for the non-repetition of conflict to be submitted to Colombian Truth Commission. The workshop took place in Mitú, Vaupés Colombia on 5 Dec 2020 and was attended by 20 former child soldiers;10 community leaders and 10 ex-combatants. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Building Trust For Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers - Storytelling Workshops (second round) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Participants wrote their stories and created scripts for short animations. 5 participants took part in the workshop across a 5-day period. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Building Trust For Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers - Storytelling workshops |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Survivors of Operation Berlin shared their stories and created animation script. 4 participants attended the virtual workshops over a 6 day period. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Building Trust For Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers - Storytelling workshops (round 3) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Participants wrote their stories and created scripts for short animations in partnership with student animators. 15 former child soldiers and 15 student animators took part in the virtual workshop series Aug-Nov 2020. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Building Trust For Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers - Storytelling/animation Workshops |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Participants wrote their stories and created scripts for short animations. They also learned basic animation techniques. 15 teenagers age 14-18 took part in the series of workshops every Monday and Thursday from July- November 2020 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers - Launch of Mi Historia: 24 animated shorts by former child soldiers |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Launch of Mi Historia: 24 animated shorts by former child soldiers were launched and shared with the Colombian Truth Commission. The event and associated animations have been seen by more than 300,000 people online. The virtual event tool place Dec 2020. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Building Trust for Truth-Telling Among Former Child Soldiers - production meetings (weekly) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Research team and student/professional animators (25 people) met weekly from July - Dec 2020 for production meetings about the animation films. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Disability and Care Working Group |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Project team attended the Disability and Care Working Group meeting (20th January 2022) of the Transforming Children's Care global collaborative platform to discuss disability inclusion at the UNDGD with global child care and protection actors (participants: Lucy Richardson, Child Protection - Disability Inclusion specialist at UNICEF. 20 representatives from global agencies, NGOs and Universities - including Victoria Olarte, Hope and Homes for Children as the representative from our project). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Teacher training |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | At the local level, we have trained 1,200 teachers, social workers, psychologists and lawyers in recruitment prevention: Tierralta (50 participants) 16 Jan 2023 Puerto Libertador (20) 17 Jan 2023 Montelibano (30) 18 Jan 2023 San Jose de Ure (10) 18 Jan 2023 Taraza (20) 18 Jan 2023 Cáceres (20) 18 Jan 2023 Monteria (50) 19 Jan 2023 Yopal (1,000 teachers) 24-27 Jan 2023 At the national level, we trained 40 professionals from the government agency ARN, who co-ordinate recruitment prevention across Colombia. These professionals graduated with a diploma in Psychosocial Strategies for the Prevention of Illicit Recruitment of Children and Teenagers by Non-State Armed Groups, awarded by Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá. The diploma required 120 hours of study and practice, and classes were held on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 7 and 9pm from 5 February - 24 November 2022. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | The Mi Historia Film Festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | The Mi Historia Film Festival was held in order to promote the website and the work of the youth journalists. As part of the festival, we held audiosvisual workshops and provided basic camera and photography training for 212 "at-risk" youths: Tierralta (40 youths) 16 Jan 2023 Puerto Libertador (50) 17 Jan 2023 Montelibano (30) 18 Jan 2023 San Jose de Ure (12) 18 Jan 2023 Taraza (30) 18 Jan 2023 Cáceres (50) 18 Jan 2023 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Training workshop for young reporters |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | My Story: News for and by teenagers trained 80 youth journalists in some of Colombia's most marginalised communities where young people live with the daily risk of being recruited by non-state armed groups. The young reporters were trained in writing, audio and video production skills and were awarded a diploma in Peace Journalism and Audiovisual Production by Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá. In order to obtain the diploma, the students were obliged to complete 120 hours of study and practice. The workshop schedule was as follows: The Andes newsroom (Bogotá, D.C.) x 15 students Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays from 3-5pm weekly 2 March - 28 October 2022 The Pacific newsroom (Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca) x 15 students Monday - Friday, 2-5pm weekly 25 July - 28 October, 2022 The Plains newsroom (Saravena, Arauca) x 15 students Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, 7-10am 18 July - 28 October 2022 The Carribbean newsroom (Tierralta and Puerto Libertador, Córdoba) x 30 students Wednesdays 7-9pm Saturdsays 8am-5pm 1 August - 30 November 2022 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |