WOLA and Refugees International invite you to hear the voice of an activist on the peace efforts underway in Colombia:
“Weavers of Life” in Putumayo: A Pilot for Peace in Colombia
Featuring:
Fatima Muriel de Florez
Association of Women Weavers for Life
Moderated by:
Francisca Vigaud-Walsh
Senior Advocate, Women & Girls
Refugees International
Friday, November 4, 2016
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
WOLA
1666 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20009
The discussion will be conducted in Spanish and will be livestreamed at www.wola.org.
To RSVP, please complete the form to the right.
For more information, please contact Sebastian Bernal at sbernal@wola.org or (202) 797-2171.
Fátima Muriel de Florez will present on the situation faced by women and girls in Colombia as the country transitions towards peace. Fatima is a women’s rights activist with ample experience defending women and children from the armed conflict in Putumayo. For 40 years, she worked as Supervisor of Education for the Department of Putumayo, where she fought tirelessly to stop recruitment of schoolchildren by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Fátima negotiated with FARC leaders to secure the release of forcibly-recruited children. In 2005, she helped create the Association of Women Weavers of Life, which connects and empowers women and their organizations. Several members of Fatima’s family, including two of her brothers, were killed and her husband was kidnapped by the FARC. During the recent peace negotiations between the FARC and the Colombian government, she provided her testimony to the negotiating table and guaranteeing that Putumayo women’s perspective was heard in Cuba.
This event will be moderated by Francisca Vigaud-Walsh who recently returned from a fact-finding mission to Colombia where she researched the situation faced by displaced women and girls and survivors of sexual and gender based violence in Catatumbo, Choco and Cundinamarca. Francisca joined Refugees International on July 2015. She has over a decade of experience in the protection sector, with a specialization in gender-based violence. Prior to RI, she worked at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Church World Service, UNHCR and Catholic Relief Services (CRS).