The construction of the Development Program with a Territorial Approach in the Caribbean begins

• "The PDETs are the backbone of that peacebuilding that we have to do every day at all times and everywhere”., President Juan Manuel Santos

President Juan Manuel Santos announced that he is initiating the construction of the Territorial Approach Development Program (PDET) in 29 other municipalities located in the Colombian Caribbean, in the regions of the Montes de María and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta - Serranía del Perijá.

"Today begins the second most important stage in which we must all participate, the construction of peace. We designed a Development Plan with a Territorial Approach (PDET) in those municipalities that suffered the most from the conflict. The PDETS are the backbone of that peacebuilding that we have to do every day at all times and in all places, "said the head of state.

In the launch that began at 10:30 in the morning women were the main protagonists.

Mariana Escobar Arango, director of the Territory Renewal Agency, an entity in charge of coordinating the participatory construction and implementation of the PDET, said that the gender approach is a priority throughout the route of this Development Program with a Territorial Approach.

"Women have and will play an absolutely central role in the construction and implementation of Development Programs with a Territorial Approach. In the 170 municipalities that will have these programs there are 3.4 million women, 49% of the population is female. 1.5 million have been victims of the armed conflict. And we have an impressive human asset that is more than 100 thousand indigenous women with all their wisdom, ancestral, cultural, who are going to make a fundamental contribution, "said the Director of Territory Renewal.

She added that in the Sierra Nevada and Serranía de Perijá and Montes de María regions, half the population is female: in the Serranía and Sierra there are 730,000 women who participated in the construction of the PDET, of which more than 300 Thousand have been victims and 20 thousand of them are indigenous. In Montes de María there are 130 thousand women, 112 thousand of them or more, also victims; Of them 3,500 indigenous women.

The Director of Territory Renewal called for all women to attend the assemblies that begin in August, where they will have the possibility to propose actions and projects for the integral development of their sidewalks, municipalities and regions.

For her part, the Mayor of La Paz, Cesar, Andrea Ovalle, said that she has also been a victim of violence, I welcome the start of the PDET in her municipality.

"It's time to change hate for love, revenge for hope. These PDET Dr. Mariana Escobar are the hope of a hopeless people who suffered the consequences of the war for the lack of opportunities and inequalities. We have hope in the plans because they are the main instrument to transform our territory, "said the Mayor of La Paz.

During the event, leaders of La Paz, Carmen de Bolívar and the communities Arhuacas and Kankuamas were in charge of representing the women of these regions of the country in a gender conversation.

"We are past the war, we have already put the dead. 187 women raped by actors in the conflict in recovery. Political peace is collective ... I love this of the Renewal, because to renew is to remove the leaves so that a new seed emerges. Peace occurs imperceptibly like the fluttering of butterflies. We are all PDET and we are called to build them together. We went from the story of the quejadera to the action for the transformation ", Soraya Bayuelo, nobel prize of peace of the Carmen de Bolivar.

"As a community we let go of hatred, anger, rancor. This is a mustard granite for peace, "Artisan Woman, leader of the Artisans Association of La Paz (ASOPAR)”, Sandra Calderón.

Similarly, the Director of Territorial Renewal emphasized the centrality of the gender approach and the participation of indigenous women: "This PDET has in its soul the legacy and tradition of indigenous peoples and the centrality of the ethnic approach is going to be Definitive The decree of the PDET has a special ethnic chapter, built with the representatives of the permanent table of agreement, in the framework of the prior consultation, the importance is recognized as fundamental agents.

"Indigenous women have not only been peacemakers. Our leadership has been silent. We have been victims, silenced by the conflict. And that resistance we have done through the fabric, the kitchen, the care of the children, so we see it very important that the PDET guarantees the ethnic approach, "said Dunen Muelas, coordinator of leadership, women and justice of the people Arhuaco.

"We are millennially builders, generators of life, from our belly we build harmony and peace. We are generators of the human seed. For many years, our ancestors, grandparents, grandmothers, have let know how to continue living, teaching to continue as a culture of indigenous peoples, "concluded Alcira Izquierdo, coordinator of children's, women's and family area of the Tayrona indigenous confederation.