LACT Partners
Peace Direct
About the partner
Who they are
Peace Direct is an international peacebuilding organisation that supports locally-led efforts to prevent violence and build lasting peace in communities affected by conflict. Working alongside grassroots organisations across the world, Peace Direct helps shift power and resources to those closest to the challenges, ensuring solutions are designed and led by local people. Their approach is rooted in the belief that sustainable peace is built by communities themselves, drawing on local knowledge, leadership and experience.
Overview of our partnership
A new partnership to support young people affected by conflict
LACT is proud to begin a new partnership with Peace Direct through an initiative that seeks to protect children and young people from recruitment by armed groups in some of Colombia’s most conflict-affected regions. Together, we share a commitment to strengthening community-led responses that create safer futures for young people and help communities build lasting resilience.
By supporting local leadership, amplifying youth voices and investing in grassroots organisations, this partnership reflects LACT’s belief that sustainable change is most effective when it is driven by those closest to the challenges they are seeking to address.
Active projects
What we are working on together
Growing community roots to protect children's futures
Children and young people in Colombia face increasing risks of recruitment by armed groups, particularly in regions affected by conflict, poverty and limited access to services. Through this project, Peace Direct and local partner Justapaz are supporting communities to create alternatives that help young people build a sense of belonging, purpose and opportunity within their own communities. The initiative focuses on six regions of Colombia: Nariño, Chocó, Putumayo, Valle del Cauca, Bajo Cauca in Antioquia and southern Córdoba.
The project works directly with children and young people through sports, artistic and cultural activities that strengthen their understanding of their rights, support positive life planning and foster safe community spaces. Community-led youth and women’s groups receive funding, training and technical support to develop locally-designed initiatives that provide meaningful alternatives to armed groups while strengthening leadership and community participation.
Alongside these community activities, the project supports young people to participate in public forums, contribute to peacebuilding discussions and engage with decision-makers. By strengthening local organisations and connecting them with wider child protection and peacebuilding networks, the initiative aims to build a stronger ecosystem of community actors able to prevent recruitment and advocate for lasting change.
Local partners
Local partners leading the work on the ground
Justapaz (Colombia)
Justapaz is a Mennonite peacebuilding organisation with more than three decades of experience supporting communities affected by violence in Colombia. As host of the national coalition COALICO, Justapaz works to prevent the recruitment of children and young people by armed groups while strengthening local peacebuilding efforts. The organisation provides community-based groups with funding, training, accompaniment and psychosocial support, helping local leaders develop solutions rooted in their own realities and experiences. Currently, Justapaz works alongside 84 community-based groups across Colombia.
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LACT Stories
Desde el blog
Notas LACT
Partner Stories
Seeing Through Their Eyes: Youth Voices, Light, and Lived Experience in Bogotá
Exhibition by members of the Lumos Colombia Youth Advisory Board, a group of children and young people currently living within institutional care.
Partner Stories
Building Safer, Stronger Communities in Pifo
In the foothills east of Quito, the community of Pifo is quietly transforming how it protects its children.
Partner Stories
Building Brighter Futures for People and Nature Across the Andes
Across the Andean region of Latin America, local organisations are showing that the most powerful transformations begin within communities themselves.