President of OEF Talks About PASO and building peace in Colombia

Recently, OEF President Larry Sampler participated in the Macro-rueda for reconciliation in Colombia. During this trip he answered questions to El País, the largest in Valle del Cauca. Sampler offered contributions on how to obtain peace after a prolonged conflict and how the PASO Colombia program of One Earth Future is working in communities for the construction of peace at the territorial level.

PASO Colombia aims to expand economic opportunities in the artisanal mining, milk and fishing sectors in the departments of Antioquia and Valle del Cauca. PASO supports fishing communities in Buenaventura and Punta Bonita, a region that has suffered from conflict, boosting the capacity of the sector with the creation of markets and strengthening local capacities. In Buga, PASO facilitates the construction of a dairy collection and cooling center that will benefit about 200 peasant families from 14 sidewalks who have lived the conflict for 50 years under the influence of the FARC guerrilla group. In Antioquia, PASO works with artisanal mining in communities affected by the conflict.

"We develop these activities in working groups where communities and social organizations are of high quality and where public and regional institutions are involved," Sampler said. "At the moment we have several very interesting strategic allies in these areas."

Sampler stressed that the peace agreement between the FARC and the Government of Colombia is not an end point, rather the beginning of a very long process. OEF and PASO Colombia plan to work in the country for many years to offer the affected communities the most successful solution in a post-agreement environment.

Read the full article with El País here.