Embassy of Canada in Colombia announces winners of the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives 2024-2025 call for proposals

Bogota, September 17, 2024. The Embassy of Canada in Colombia selected the winning projects of the annual call of the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), which will receive financial support from the CFLI for their implementation during the period 2024-2025.

The selected projects will focus on three priority areas for Canada in Colombia: peace and security, environmental protection and the fight against climate change, and inclusive governance. These initiatives will benefit populations in Antioquia, Bolivar, Cauca, Bajo Cauca, Guaviare, Nariño, Meta and Bogota.

The financial support for this year amounts to 270,000 Canadian dollars, which will be allocated to the winning organizations, in a range of between CAD 24,000 and 50,000, according to the proposals submitted.

“We are very happy to support transformative initiatives in different regions of Colombia this year, through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives. Canada is proud to partner with Colombian civil society organizations, to contribute to their efforts to generate a positive impact in their communities, while supporting their strengthening and agency. I look forward to getting to know these projects and regions of Colombia in the coming months,” said Elizabeth Williams, Canada's Ambassador-designate to Colombia.

The Embassy of Canada congratulates the winning organizations, and thanks the more than 250 organizations that applied for this year's call for proposals. We invite all of them to continue working together for the country, and to participate in future calls and initiatives of Canada in Colombia.

The following are the winning projects for the year 2024-2025, which were selected by the FCIL Evaluation Committee in Colombia:

1. Organization: Development and Peace Foundation - FUNDEPAZ

Project objective: Building adaptive capacities of public and civil society organizations to extreme weather events through community empowerment workshops, technical support and a capacity building strategy that favors the implementation of comprehensive resilience plans and vulnerability reduction.

Funding: CAD 45,000
Impact area: Pasto, Nariño.

2.  Organization: Corporación Acción Humanitaria por la Convivencia y Paz del Nordeste Antioqueño - CAHUCOPANA (Humanitarian Action for Coexistence and Peace Corporation of Northeastern Antioquia)

Project objective: Strengthen community protection and self-protection mechanisms in rural areas of the municipality of Segovia, through the strengthening of knowledge in human rights, international humanitarian law, women's rights and gender equality, and the consolidation of capacities for participation, leadership and enforceability.

Funding: CAD 46,800
Impact area: Segovia, Antioquia.

3. Organization: Fundación Vorágine Periodismo Contracorriente

Objective: Provide complete and truthful information on Total Peace to make informed decisions that strengthen democratic values. Through journalistic content, the story of victims of violence and conflict will be narrated, and a complete x-ray of the armed groups will be made, as well as the progress of the negotiation with the government.

Funding: CAD 25,600
Impact area: Cauca, Nariño, Bajo Cauca (northern Antioquia and southern Córdoba) and Valle de Aburrá, Antioquia.

4. Organization: Fundación Compaz, Centro de Recursos para la Paz (Compaz Foundation, Resource Center for Peace)

Project objective: Strengthen the environmental governance of 70 women belonging to the community associations Raíces del Manglar and ASOREFENIX, organizations led by women who develop conservation and sustainable use actions in marine-coastal ecosystem areas in the Municipality of Tumaco.

Funding: CAD 45,000
Impact area: Tumaco, Nariño.

5. Organization: La Contratopedia Caribe, in alliance with Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar

Project objective: Strengthen local democracy in Cartagena through the reduction of opacity about public funds, as well as the strengthening of citizen criteria for responsible information consumption, highlighting the consequences of disinformation and encouraging conscious practices in the dissemination of contents.

Funding: CAD 35,000
Impact area: Cartagena, Bolivar.

6.  Organization: Corporación Mujeres Libres

Project objective: Generate social capacities for the dignified social reintegration of women deprived of liberty, through training sessions on identification, recognition and prevention of the different forms of gender violence, for the exercise of their autonomy and that of their families.

Funding: CAD 24,000
Impact area: Bogota.

7.   Organization: Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - WILPF Colombia

Project objective: Provide legal orientation for women and their families, as well as members or former members of the armed forces for the accreditation of direct and indirect victims before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) for Macro Case 11; psycho-emotional accompaniment for women and their families interested in accrediting themselves as victims before the JEP for acts constituting gender-based violence and sexual violence.

Funding: 46,800
Impact area: Meta, Guaviare, Bolivar and Cauca.

Balance of the Canada Fund Local Initiatives 2023-2024

During 2023-2024, the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives supported seven organizations in inclusive governance, democracy, peace, and environmental projects to transform their territories. In the environmental area, the project of the organization Bosque Colombiano worked on resilience to climate change and water management, making water drinkable for 300 indigenous Narakajmanta families in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The CEALDES organization strengthened community processes of five indigenous groups in the Amazon to monitor biodiversity and protect Amazonian species such as turtles, primates and birds. The project led by the CREDHOS organization strengthened the protection of water sources and provided legal support to environmental leaders in Magdalena Medio. Finally, the Gambote Community Council developed a sustainability model for the commercialization of plastic by recyclers' families and implemented educational programs for environmental protection.

In the area of peace and security, COALICO strengthened the capacity of civil society to prevent the involvement of children and adolescents in armed violence. The project led by the ILSA organization strengthened networking among women leaders who are searching for their relatives who disappeared during the armed conflict. In the area of inclusive governance, the NAKAMA Foundation strengthened the leadership of women and LGBTIQ+ people through training activities and the presentation of agendas with a diverse approach to local governments in Tolima. Likewise, the organization RED SOMOS worked for the recognition of sexual and gender diversity, and the empowerment of diverse communities through political participation and advocacy.

About the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives

The CFLI is a program designed to support small-scale, high-impact projects that align with Global Affairs Canada's priority thematic areas in 120 countries around the world. The CFLI contributes to supporting bilateral relations between Canada and Colombia and its civil society, deepening relationships and supporting local efforts.

For more information, please contact
Sharon Hernández
Public Affairs Officer
Embassy of Canada in Colombia
Sharon.hernandez@international.gc.ca