natural disasters and who have not crossed their country’s internationally recognized borders.
PCS adheres to the terms and definitions contained in the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees, the 1967 Protocol and the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees of 1984. In conflict and post-conflict situations, women - and most especially rural women - are greatly affected by acts of violence that undermine their rights and violate their physical and emotional integrity.
Indigenous people also have a significant presence in PCS’ intervention areas. Their cultural characteristics, linked to their social and geographic context, require us to engage in actions that promote their knowledge, exercise and defence of their collective rights, as stipulated in Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization ILO, (Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent countries), particularly because these groups are most severely affected by structural violence and internal armed conflicts.
In the specific case of Colombia, large segments of the Afro-Colombian population live in conflict zones and endure situations of displacement and political violence, problems that are further exacerbated by racial and cultural discrimination. In the course of the conflict, these populations have suffered ethnic attacks, a process that has affected their collective projects of dignity and resistance in their ancestral lands.

The participant population includes:

a) Populations displaced by internal armed conflicts in countries in conflict, such as Colombia, and in post-conflict situations, such as Guatemala and Peru and the displaced populations of Chiapas, a conflict that remains unresolved, but where displacement, return and/or resettlement occurred several years ago.

b) Resistant, confined and returned populations in Colombia
Populations in resistance: those at risk of forced displacement that have opted to remain in their places of origin or residence, despite the constant attacks and threats to which they are subjected by the armed actors. Confined populations: with the intensification of the armed conflict in many parts of Colombia, and by decision of the armed actors, some populations are forced to remain in their communities or villages, where they are exposed to risks associated with armed confrontations, economic blockades, restriction of movement and constant aggressions and threats by armed groups.

Returned populations: in the case of returnees present in PCS’ intervention areas, although these groups have initiated the return phase of their resettlement process, they do not have guarantees of protection.

c) Populations displaced by the impact of anti-drugs policies, these groups are affected by policies such as the crop fumigation programme and the general impacts of the application of Plan Colombia. In many parts of Peru and Ecuador, the vulnerability of these populations is either due to the dynamics of the Colombian conflict or to the continued presence of Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) rebels in the coca-producing areas of Peru.

d) Refugee populations, whether officially recognized as refugees or not, the populations present in Latin American countries affected by forced displacement from Colombia, due to the armed conflict, human rights abuses, violations of international humanitarian law and the war on drugs.

e) Women victims of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict.

f) Populations whose rights are violated in different ways in the context of the region’s internal armed conflicts. PCS gives special priority to populations belonging to different ethnic groups, indigenous peoples and communities of African descent.

Civil Society Organizations
- Organizations of the displaced population;
- Organizations of the refugee population;
- Organizations of women victims of political violence and sexual violence;
- NGOs;
- Churches;
- Civic movements;
- Other organizations of civil society.

The State
National Governments; Regional Governments; Local Governments; Public Institutions.

International Community
a) International cooperation agencies from Europe and the Americas;
b) Organizations of the United Nations System present in the region, particularly the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Representative of the UN Secretary General for Internal Displacement, the Special Rapporteurs on Migrations, Violence against Women, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), UNDP, IOM, etc.;
c) Diplomatic Corps, through the Embassies and diplomatic representations in the region;
d) Parliaments;
e) Multilateral organizations, such as the European Union, the Organization of American States (OAS), the Andean Community of Nations, MERCOSUR, and the recently created Latin American Community.