In a new eight week video series, “Women Seeding Peace: Life After Coca Crops,” One Earth Future Foundation’s PASO Colombia program presents the compelling stories of women who have courageously transformed their own lives and livelihoods to help put their communities on a path toward a more peaceful future.
In a new eight week video series, “Women Seeding Peace: Life After Coca Crops,” One Earth Future Foundation’s PASO Colombia program presents the compelling stories of women who have courageously transformed their own lives and livelihoods to help put their communities on a path toward a more peaceful future.
The video series follows several women as they set out to leave behind a life hinged on growing illicit crops in order to forge a new path toward a legal and more sustainable source of income.
Meet Emilse
In our first of 8 weekly episodes, we hear the inspiring story of Emilse who, from an early age worked the land. Forced displacement led her to leave her native Caquetá to seek a new life in the Valle del Cauca where, out of necessity, she began growing illegal coca crops in order to support her family. The government’s PNIS program and PASO’s Contingency Plan presented new opportunities for Emilse and her neighbors to abandon illicit crops in favor of focusing their collective efforts on sustainably growing food through agriculture and animal breeding projects.
The women featured in the video series are part of the Contingency Plan To Support Ex-coca Grower Families, which has been developed by PASO Colombia and funded by the United Nations Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Sustaining Peace in Colombia. The Plan bridges the gap between phases of the National Comprehensive Program for the Substitution of Illicit Crops (PNIS). It provides participants with training, technical assistance, and an income for their work in the strengthening of productive and commercial networks. These networks aim to improve the sustainability of alternatives to coca crops.
The Contingency Plan was developed by PASO, in coordination with the Presidential Advisory Office for Stabilization and Consolidation and with the financial support of the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund, to ensure the successful implementation of the Peace Agreement. Offering this gap support has to date assisted nearly 2,000 families in Colombia.
Meet Other Amazing Women in the Series
PASO Colombia will release a new episode every week from now until June 10th on the Women Seeding Peace landing page of their website.
Follow @OEForg and @pasocolombia on Twitter for new episode releases and other updates about the strong Colombian women leading change in their country.
Partnering for Peace
One Earth Future Foundation’s PASO Colombia program is proud to partner with the UN Multi-Donor Fund in the implementation of the Contingency Plan to Support families registered in the PNIS program. To date, PASO Colombia’s Contingency Plan has supported 1,967 families residing in 10 Colombian municipalities including Putumayo, Antioquia, Valle del Cauca, Cauca, Guaviare, Meta and Norte de Santander. With a strong focus on gender, The Contingency Plan’s participants are 80% women.