FORWARD/ADELANTE project summary September, 2019

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We are in the final stage of designing the FORWARD/ADELANTE project for women victims or descendants of victims from communities that have suffered massacres in El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Dominican Republic, Colombia and Ecuador. In this project, we are  guided by the judgments of the honorable Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR). Starting in November of this year and continuously while there is funding, we will invite young women in small groups of six to visit us in Costa Rica for two weeks. The program will continue for one year with a virtual learning program for them and their communities, sponsored by the UCI, University for International Cooperation. The project focuses on the empowerment of young women from communities that experienced massacres in Latin America and complements the judgments of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) and the reparations stipulated therein. It involves rural women in a life project, with an innovative approach to heal extraordinary situations that have occurred in their history, from a perspective of international solidarity, and in the context of DESCA (Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights).

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Communal massacres such as those experienced in El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Colombia can no longer be an individual, community or national problem; they are a problem of the world community. Therefore, FORWARD/ADELANTE provides international support to those individuals, their descendants and communities that have suffered situations of traumatic violence such as a massacre.  The project implementation period is from 2019 to 2024; several pilot projects will test the methodology from July 2019 to June 2020. The ADELANTE project initiates with the case of El Mozote and surrounding areas vs. El Salvador. The group from El Mozote and surrounding communities is preparing to travel to Costa Rica in November where the first activities will begin at Rancho Margot and then continue at CATIE. During the second week, they will be received at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, as well as other institutions.

 

In some countries, the category of human rights violations will also include the disappearance of children and/or sexual torture. The methodology is divided into two stages: a two-week sojourn in Costa Rica at several human rights institutions, as well as others focusing on regenerative development, yoga, art therapy, equine therapy, radio communication and meditation labyrinths. The second stage will be a virtual learning program over the course of one year. The six women, in addition to other members of their community, will be invited to participate in the virtual learning program that will cover topics of personal development, entrepreneurship, human rights, permaculture, territorial strengthening and eco-ethical leadership. The selection of participants will be made at the  community level using guidelines provided by the FORWARD/ADELANTE project.