Year Five Quarter One Report: Colombia Human Rights Activity

The lockdown in Colombia, which lasted from April to June 2020, led to a significant increase in human rights violations, including gender-based violence, recruitment and exploitation of minors by armed groups, and targeting of human rights defenders and social leaders. Despite the challenges, the Human Rights Activity continued to work closely with local and national government entities, civil society organizations, and other international cooperation programs to serve vulnerable groups. Many activities were redesigned to comply with social distancing measures, and project timelines were adjusted and extended. The activity also developed emergency response activities, including information campaigns, consultant support for governments, and humanitarian assistance to address urgent problems in its priority regions. The Human Rights Activity collaborated with the Escuela Superior de Administración Pública (ESAP) to prepare two online diploma courses, including a human rights and peacebuilding diploma course and a migrant rights diploma course. The courses aimed to reach a larger number of public officials and human rights defenders and social leaders. In Northern Cauca, the Universidad Javeriana de Cali completed a human rights and territorial peacebuilding diploma course for human rights defenders and social leaders from the region's diverse communities. Through grants to civil society organizations, the Human Rights Activity produced several articles and videos promoting the work of human rights defenders and social leaders as part of the USAID-supported anti-stigmatization campaign Lidera La Vida. The activity also completed a consultancy with the National Protection Unit to reengineer their individual protection program risk evaluation process, which will improve the process's efficiency and reduce wait times for vulnerable human rights defenders and social leaders. The Human Rights Activity launched a new partnership with the National Police to create a Human Rights Observatory that will monitor human rights violations committed by police and promote a positive, protective policing culture. The activity also began implementing an initiative to improve support for migrants and displaced communities in Norte de Santander and Antioquia. Additionally, the activity supported the Universidad del Rosario's illegal mining mapping project, which aims to identify areas of illegal mining and promote responsible mining practices. The Human Rights Activity continued to support the Attorney General's Office in its efforts to combat human rights violations, including the development of a public policy on human rights in mining. The activity also worked with the Ombudsman's Office to improve support for migrants and displaced communities in Norte de Santander and Antioquia. Overall, the Human Rights Activity demonstrated its flexibility and creative problem-solving skills in responding to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and continued to promote human rights and address the needs of vulnerable populations in Colombia.