AJODENIU and SweFOR: new agreement to strengthen peace by accompanying those who build it in the local community.

SweFOR Colombia is proud to announce the signing of an international accompaniment agreement with the Asociación de Jóvenes Desplazados Nueva Imagen en Unión (AJODENIU), a community organisation with more than 20 years’ experience of working in Quibdó, Chocó.

Created by and for young people from displaced families from Chocó and Urabá Antioqueño, AJODENIU is community organisation in the northern neighbourhoods of the city that promotes participation in peaceful, non-violent activities. They work especially with children, adolescents and young people through sports, cultural and psychosocial activities that promote safe spaces and peace building.

This agreement represents a step in SweFOR commitment to accompany community leaders who work for the life, dignity and rights of historically vulnerable communities. In particular, we seek to strengthen the work of Afro-Colombian youth in areas severely affected by state neglect and by dynamics such as the recruitment into armed group and use of children and adolescents in the context of the armed conflict.

The agreement is a collaborative commitment that includes the fact that SweFOR will provide physical international accompaniment in the activities led by AJODENIU, as well as advocacy and training in non-violent self-protection with a differential approach, aimed at contributing to the protection of its members and strengthening their community work in the complex urban context of Quibdó.