Between November and December 2022, Luisa María Colonia Zúñiga, Gustavo Suárez Ríos and Italia Agüado Urmendiz conducted field research in the Llano Verde neighbourhood, located in the east of the Colombian city of Cali.

Through focus-groups and semi-structured interviews, the researchers collected information related to perceived threats faced by women. They obtained testimonies from women victims of the armed conflict in Colombia, with the aim of turning their memories of conflict into instruments of building peace and protection. This protection comes in the form of resistance practices against police intimidation and the multiple forms of violence that the women face on a daily basis.

During this fieldwork, the team also interviewed attorneys who have collaborated with the community in developing community advocacy tools.

The researchers are currently analysing the material collected during the field visits and in the archives of the organization Masterpeace Cali, and combining the results with documentary matrix prepared in January 2023 where they collected important information related to their research. This research and analysis has since been published in the media and reports of civil society organizations.

Among the interesting insights they have identified so far is the central use of community cohesion as a mechanism for peaceful civilian self-protection of populations relocated to urban areas due to cultural diversity and the high rate of unmet basic needs. Memories of violence are a shared experience that enables peaceful group action.

Inicio del trabajo de campo en Cali, Colombia.

Durante los meses de noviembre y diciembre de 2022, Luisa María Colonia Zúñiga, Gustavo Suárez Ríos e Italia Agüado Urmendiz llevaron a cabo la investigación de campo en el barrio Llano Verde ubicado al oriente de la ciudad de Cali.

El grupo de investigadores recolectó información relevante relacionada con las amenazas que se perciben en el entorno de las mujeres que participan de la investigación, a través del ejercicio de grupos focales y entrevistas semi direccionadas. Asimismo, obtuvieron testimonios de mujeres víctimas del conflicto armado en Colombia donde se evidencia el uso de las memorias por parte de ellas para resignificar el pasado en las acciones pacíficas de protección que llevan a cabo en el presente a modo de resistencia frente a políticas de miedo y la exacerbación de múltiples violencias que se han convertido en cotidianas.

Adicionalmente, durante el trabajo de campo también entrevistamos a abogados que han colaborado con la comunidad en el desarrollo de herramientas de abogacía comunitaria.

En este momento, estamos comprometidos en el análisis del material recolectado en las visitas de campo y en los archivos de la organización Masterpeace Cali. Asimismo, estamos analizando la matriz documental elaborada en el mes de enero de 2023 donde recabamos información fundamental relacionada con la temática de la investigación, que ha sido publicada en medios de comunicación e informes de organizaciones de la sociedad civil. 

Entre las perspectivas interesantes que hemos identificado hasta el momento, se tiene que se presentan limitaciones en la cohesión comunitaria como mecanismo para la autoprotección civil pacífica de poblaciones reubicadas en zonas urbanas debido a la diversidad cultural y a la alta tasa de necesidades básicas insatisfechas. Sin embargo, las memorias de las violencias son un punto de encuentro que posibilita la acción grupal pacífica.

On 10-11 February 2023, the Antioquia Social Process of Guarantees held an experience exchange meeting with indigenous and peasant organizations of Bajo Cauca, Colombia. The meeting served to share organizational experiences and balances related to self-protection and protection in contexts of violence which have been escalating in the Bajo Cauca region for several years.

The meeting was attended by indigenous guards and ethnic authorities from the Embera and Senú ethnic groups of Cáceres and El Bagre, as well as peasant leaders from three peasant organizations – Peasant Association of Bajo Cauca (ASOCBAC), Association of Agroecological Brotherhoods of Guamocó (AHEREMIGUA), and Association of Environmental Victims of Puerto Clavel (ASOVIAMCLA)  – and delegates from the Social Process of Guarantees.

A total of 20 people attended the two-day meeting and shared the self-protection strategies that they have been building for years to face the context of violence as well as the legal and illegal armed groups that are present in the territories where they live.

The attendants embarked on a reflection of lessons learnt in years of struggle for peace and defence of human and territorial rights, highlighting the efficiency and risks which have arisen from the implementation of different self-protection strategies.

The event closed with an evaluation of the implementation of the self-protection protocols of ethnic organizations and peasant communities, in order to establish the degree to which the strategies had been applied within the processes.

The project’s activities will continue in March with the “Circles of the Word”, traditional spaces for dialogue that will seek to build on the progress made at the meeting held on 10-11 February.

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The project “The Social Process of Guarantees of Antioquia, Colombia: An experience of unarmed civil protection with indigenous and peasant communities of Bajo Cauca” is led by researchers Astrid Torres, Eberhar Cano y Winston Gallego. For more information, see: https://creating-safer-space.com/the-social-process-of-guarantees-of-antioquia-colombia-an-experience-of-unarmed-civil-protection-with-indigenous-and-peasant-communities-of-bajo-cauca/. 

This week, we have launched two new videos giving overviews of research projects. The videos from the Strengthening Local Capacities for UCP (Rural Women’s Peace Link, Kenya), and Community strategies for Unarmed Civilian Protection in South-West Colombia: local experiences and lessons learned projects are now available on our YouTube Channel. Please feel free to watch these videos, and leave any feedback, reflections, or questions for the PI’s on this Mural page.

Creating Safer Space network PI Berit Bliesemann de Guevara and project PI Sukanya Podder will be chairing a section on ‘Civilian agency in war and violent conflict: Exploring the power of self-protection’ at the 16^th Pan-European Conference (PEC) of the European International Studies Association (EISA). The conference will take place in Potsdam, Germany from 5-9 September 2023. The deadline for submitting a paper or roundtable abstract to the section is 15 March 2023. See the EISA PEC 2023 website for more information: http://pec2023.eisa-net.org/section-list/. We look forward to receiving submissions from the Creating Safer Space community.

Marwan Darweish, Mahmoud Soliman and Andrew Rigby spent ten days doing field research in the South Hebron Hills, in the south of the occupied West Bank, during October-November 2022.

A few weeks prior to our visit one of our co-participants in our research project, a community leader in the village of Al Tuwani, suffered serious injury at the hands of thugs from a neighbouring illegal settlement, who attacked him with staves and metal bars, breaking both his hands.

The settler-thugs acted with complete impunity – confident they would face no legal sanctions for their acts of violence. They are emboldened by the knowledge that the violence they perpetrate against Palestinians serves as a major informal tool of the Israeli state in its pursuance of its annexationist policies. In the words of a report by the Israeli human rights agency B’tselem, ‘settler violence is a form of government policy, aided and abetted by official state authorities with their active participation.’

In such an asymmetric struggle the local inhabitants have few resources of resistance beyond their own everyday courage, tenacity and stubborn steadfastness – sumud. To support them different Palestinian, Israeli and international agencies, organisations and groups have sought to offer various forms of accompaniment as agents of civilian protection, assisting the local Palestinian communities in their efforts to achieve a degree of ‘safe space’ within which to pursue their lives.

During our field work we interviewed local Palestinian community leaders and activists, in addition to members of international groups engaged in different forms of ‘accompaniment’. We are now engaged in the process of analysing the material we gathered from our interviews and observations. A number of interesting insights are beginning to emerge, which we shall pursue in subsequent fieldwork. 

1) The limitations of traditional approaches to accompaniment and civilian protection when the local population face risks to their well-being around the clock, with night raids by settlers increasing in frequency.

2) The symbiotic relationship between local Palestinians and international accompaniers. The accompaniers are there to enhance the security of the Palestinians, but the Palestinian in turn ‘protect’ the internationals – advising them of potential threats, identifying escape routes in case of attack, indicating where they should stand in order to minimise the risk of injury during encounters with settlers.

3) One of the key ways in which internationals can enhance the capacities for self-protection of local Palestinians is by letting the locals know that they are not alone. This awareness has a significant impact on local morale.

Mahmoud Soliman and Marwan Darweish talking to Abu Nidal from South Hebron Hills (Masafer Yatta), October 2022.

Soldiers from one side and activists on the other side. Al Tuwani October 2022.

This month, Creating Safer Space is co-hosting a collaborative workshop with Nonviolent Peaceforce and Institut Catholique de Paris.

In this event, Dr Cécile Dubernet and Prof Rachel Julian will lead a French language session with top tips on how to write a grant application. There will be time for questions and discussions following a presentation.

16.30 – 17:30 UTC on Wednesday 14 December 2022.

Please use a timezone converter to check your local time.

All welcome, join the meeting here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86973196809

Following a successful first meeting, the working group on Innovation in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning in Unarmed Civilian Protection / Accompaniment will meet again:

14:00-16:00 UTC on Tuesday 24 January 2023. Please use a timezone converter to check your local time.

The Working Group will discuss participatory methods of monitoring and evaluation and how best to jointly work towards methods of monitoring and evaluation suited to UCP/A.

Welcome to the launch for the working group on Innovation in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning in Unarmed Civilian Protection / Accompaniment.

The Working Group will discuss participatory methods of monitoring and evaluation and how best to jointly work towards methods of monitoring and evaluation suited to UCP/A.

2 – 4 pm UTC on Thursday 1 December
Please use a timezone converter to check your local time.

The session will be held in English and Spanish with simultaneous translation.

The Creating Safer Space network has funded 21 research projects around the world, and we have set aside funding for a few more projects. These will undertake research in 10 different countries in the Global South.

You can find a summary of each project by clicking on the pins on our Project Map. Each project also has a bespoke website on our Projects Page, where they provide more detailed information about their plans and activities.

The Creating Safer Space research network invites Expressions of Interest to participate in a 10-week training course on Strengthening Civilian Capacities to Protect Civilians.

This course is an introduction to the objectives, principles, sources of guidance, and methods of Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP). The course is led by Dr Ellen Furnari and Dr Thor Wagstrom, and is based on course content developed by our partner organisation Nonviolent Peaceforce. There are no course fees, and course material will be provided for free. More information about the course is available on our website.

Course Structure
The course dates are 7 January – 17 March 2023. The course will require about 8-10 hours per week to read, participate and complete assignments. Participants complete all activities online through modules that are accessed through the course website. There are no required meetings for this course. However, participants are invited to meet the course facilitators and each other during an informal kick-off Zoom meeting on Saturday 7 January. Up to three additional meetings will be arranged during the course for opportunities to meet and question experienced UCP practitioners and to practice UCP methods through role-play exercises. Attendance for these meetings will not be required but is encouraged.

Eligibility
Researchers, Masters/PhD students and relevant practitioners are invited to submit an Expression of Interest to participate in this course. Anyone is welcome to apply, but places are limited. Priority will be given to those candidates who are most likely to benefit from the course, with priority to candidates from the UK and from the Global South. We especially encourage Principal Investigators, Co-Investigators, Project Partners and Research Assistants on Creating Safer Space research projects to participate in the course.

How to apply
Please submit an Expression of Interest of no more than 100 words to creating-safer-space@aber.ac.uk by 22 November 2022, with an explanation of your interest in the course and how it would benefit you in your work or studies. Please specify if you are involved in a Creating Safer Space research project, including your role in the project.