My name is Isabel Ortiz, and I am the Director of Fundación Mujer y Futuro in Bucaramanga, Colombia. Our non-governmental organization was created sixteen years ago by members of civil society. In recent years, we have had to direct our work towards women who have been displaced. There are a lot of displaced families in our area because of the current conflict in Colombia.
Versión en español abajo
“My name is Isabel Ortiz, and I am the Director of Fundación Mujer y Futuro in Bucaramanga, Colombia.
“Our non-governmental organization was created sixteen years ago by members of civil society. In recent years, we have had to direct our work towards women who have been displaced. There are a lot of displaced families in our area because of the current conflict in Colombia. We provide them with emotional help and emphasize a psychological component to cure their trauma.
“We develop visible campaigns against sexual violence and at the same time we promote economic assistance to support small initiatives for women and their families who have been displaced. We participate in various women’s initiatives in order to denounce and bring awareness of the effects that the armed conflict has had on women’s lives. In general, we focus on the impact of violence on women but we also look at how sexual violence by the armed actors, guerrillas, paramilitaries and legal armies affects other components of their lives. We are very dedicated to our work because this deeply affects the lives of many Colombian women. While there is a very serious socio-political conflict, we also have a lot of initiatives and organizations that make an effort to bring solidarity. We are also making an effort to bring experiences together that could serve as pilot programs and could begin to secure peace. We have become experts in different methodologies that will bring about healing.
“The current Colombian conflict has left a lot of victims. It requires a lot of work to be able to bring long-run solutions and maintain a peaceful country.”
“Denunciamos el conflicto ya que afecta tanto la vida de las mujeres Colombianas.”
“Me llamo Isabel Ortiz y soy la directora de la Fundación Mujer y Futuro in Bucaramanga, Colombia.
“Nuestra organización fue creada desde la sociedad civil y no gubernamental hace diez y seis años. En los últimos años hemos tenido que orientar nuestro trabajao hacia las mujeres desplazadas. Estamos en una región donde recibimos muchísimas familias desplazadas en el conflicto del país. Proporcionamos ayuda emocional con un componente psico-social para sanar traumatismos. Desarrollamos campañas visibles contra la violencia sexual y de igual manera promovemos ayuda economica para sostener pequeñas iniciativas de las mujeres que llegan desplazadas. Somos parte activa de la Ruta Pacífica de la Mujeres y participamos en la mesa mujer y conflicto armado para denunciar y ver visibles los graves efectos que tiene el conflicto armado en la vida de las mujeres. Particularmente hacemos énfasis en lo que significa la violencia del genero, la violencia sexual de parte de los actores armados, los guerrilleros, paramilitares, y ejercitos legales.
“Denunciamos y hacemos campañas visibles porque esto afecta de manera tremenda la vida de las mujeres colombianas. Al tiempo que tenemos un grave conflicto socio-político tenemos muchísimas iniciativas y organizaciones que se esfuerzan en traer solidaridad. También estamos haciendo esfuerzos de consolidación de experiencias que puedan hacer demostraciones piloto y garantías de paz. En el post-conflicto nos hemos hecho especialistas para poder demostrar metodologias sycho socials y poder sanar.
“Estamos consientes que este conflicto colombiano deja una gran cantidad de victimas y se requiere mucho trabajo psico-social para poder resolver a largo plazo y sostener un país en paz.”
