Five Inspiring Community Leaders, One Common Goal

Tibisai, Belen, Johanna, Danna, and Natalia are leaders within their communities in different countries but they all went to learn about the same thing.

As community leaders looking to bring back information and implement new ideas, these five women participated in a multi-country program in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru that taught them to combat and respond to gender-based violence (GBV).

“We really discovered our own potential,” said Johanna, from Tacna, Peru.

Johanna, an LGBTQ+ community leader and psychologist, is the president of Brigada Arcoiris. Brigada Arcoiris provides psychological support and essential services to LGBTQ+ people in Peru. Thanks to the training Johanna received, she and her team are now able to respond to discrimination, exclusion, and violence.

“We learned how to create safe spaces and positive actions for the community, and people who are exploring their identity,” said Johanna.

The program provides women, girls, adolescents, and LGBTQ+ people with emergency GBV support in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. It also works to build the capacities of local leaders so that they can contribute to the elimination of violence in their communities and promote gender equality.

“The program taught women to value themselves, to love themselves,” said Tibisai, a participant and community leader from Ecuador.

HIAS, with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), provides assistance that is adapted to different country contexts to train community leaders. Capacity building sessions and emergency support are provided to groups from host communities and displaced people.

In the Andean region, there are three different programs currently training local leaders in GBV prevention tools and techniques:

• Colombia: The Strengthening Community Leaders program provides capacity building to adolescents from refugee, migrant, and local communities. The program strives to create community-based support networks for GBV survivors and people at-risk, by providing information on mental health, protection, and GBV prevention.
• Ecuador: Between Us is a community-based MHPSS intervention program with a gender lens that seeks to improve the safety and well-being of women and girls. Leaders receive training on combatting domestic violence, xenophobia, discrimination, and mental health difficulties that many women from both host and refugee communities experience.
• Peru: The Community Protection Committees are groups designed to strengthen capacities of women-led community-based organizations in GBV detection and prevention. Throughout the program, leaders learn how to respond to GBV cases with respect, confidentiality, and professionalism.

“Combatting GBV is fundamental as this contributes to the creation of a more equitable world in which favorable conditions for development exist for everyone,” said Christophe Rochat, a protection officer for SDC.

Between June and November of 2024, HIAS trained a total of 209 leaders in Colombia and Ecuador and has created six Community Protection Committees in Peru.