Peacebuilding with a young face: Mae Kiwe Intercultural Colloquium, Voices and Actions for Peace kicks off in Bogota

Bogota, June 2025. On June 19 and 20, the Hotel El Dorado Bogotá will host the Mae Kiwe Intercultural Colloquium: Voices and Actions for Peace, a space for transformative dialogue that will bring together young leaders, community representatives, institutions, academia and international cooperation to reflect on the leadership of young people, especially women, Afro-descendants and indigenous people, in the construction of peace in Colombia.

This event is part of the Mae Kiwe Intercultural project, funded by the UN Secretary General's Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), which for two years has accompanied youth organizations in Cauca, Chocó and Valle del Cauca, strengthening their capacity for political participation, their community protection systems and their power of advocacy in contexts marked by violence, patriarchy, structural racism and exclusion.

• Check the agenda of the event here.

• Read the colloquium orientation note here.

• Watch the documentary Tejiendo Luchas, Trenzando Sueños here to learn more about Mae Kiwe Intercultural.

Three thematic lines for peace with a young face:

During two days, the colloquium will develop three key thematic lines:

• Organizational strengthening of youth.

• Community and institutional protection systems from the territories.

• Political and community advocacy led by youth.

In the words of Mireia Villar Forner, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Colombia: "The Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) has witnessed how the youth of the Colombian Pacific teach us every day that peace is built with creativity and territorial roots. Through its more than 9,300 direct beneficiaries and more than 15,000 indirect beneficiaries, we have seen the emergence of innovative solutions where art becomes a powerful political tool: protection protocols co-created between young people and institutions and autonomous violence observatories that already benefit 3,800 people in four communities, are some of the great bets of this initiative. These experiences, which combine ancestral knowledge with digital tools, show tangible results: youth “artivism” has reached more than 5,000 people, while 9 youth organizations have strengthened their advocacy capacity. By investing in this leadership - especially of indigenous and Afro-descendant women - we are not only responding to immediate challenges, but also laying the foundations for a stable and lasting peace from the territories, with a differential approach and effective participation."

The conversations that will be held in the framework of the colloquium will make visible how young, Afro-descendant and indigenous women have assumed a leading role in the transformation of their territories, facing contexts of structural violence, patriarchy, racism and historical exclusion. From Cauca, Chocó and Valle del Cauca, political proposals have emerged that articulate anti-racism, decolonial thought and feminisms of the global south as living tools to build peace, demand guarantees for their participation, and propose their own forms of protection and community governance.

"With will, honesty, simplicity and humility, we survive and balance community life in every space where we are. We are warrior women, brave and dreamers; in us germinate life and hope for the survival of our people. For this reason, we see the colloquium Mae Kiwe Intercultural: Voices and Actions for Peace, as a space to share our experiences in the political and organizational processes that we lead as women". Derly Musse - Young indigenous Nasa woman, artisan from the municipality of Caloto, Cauca.

Regional articulation and lessons learned for protection

The Colloquium will also include the participation of regional members of the Regional Subgroup for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, where they will be able to exchange good practices applicable to humanitarian crisis contexts, with a focus on community knowledge and child protection from the local level.

The Regional Subgroup for the Protection of Children in Humanitarian Action for Latin America and the Caribbean offers its expertise from the regional coordination:

Several organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean have been promoting spaces for the exchange of experiences and lessons learned that have proven to be effective in preventing and responding to violence against children and adolescents in emergency contexts. These spaces make visible practices where, through the articulation between communities and local child protection systems, it has been possible to strengthen community resilience and establish early warning mechanisms, psychosocial support, as well as other interventions and child protection services. The systematization of these initiatives not only contributes to the improvement of humanitarian responses, but also offers concrete routes for the replicability of models centered on the protagonism of children and adolescents.

The Mae Kiwe Intercultural Colloquium is not only a space for conversation, it is an urgent call to recognize that peace is built from the communities, territories and youth who have not stopped resisting, proposing and creating. Today, more than ever, their voices must be heard, protected and placed at the center of public debate.

"We see the opening of this dialogue, rather than as the conclusion of the Mae Kiwe Intercultural project, as the opportunity to project the possibilities opened throughout its implementation for the beginning of a process that lays the foundations to strengthen the enormous opportunities opened by the recognition of the role of youth, especially women, Afro-descendant and indigenous youth, as social and political protagonists of peace building and decision making, based on their demands and feelings. From this point of view, we seek to open intersectoral relationships and exchange of knowledge that are sustainable over time". Juan Manuel Guerrero Country Director of War Child Colombia.

Contact for media and partnerships

Name: Julieth Pacheco

Position: Communications and Advocacy Coordinator War Child.

e-mail: julieth.pacheco@warchild.net

Phone: +57 3219755123