through the promotion and strengthening of the social and political leadership capabilities of human rights organisations and those of other popular and labour organisations. Such promotion is necessary so that these organisations can assume a leading role in the promotion, defence and exercise of their rights and in drawing up proposals that contribute to the development of a social movement in favour of human rights, especially rights of women and indigenous peoples, and decentralisation.

In the post-conflict phase, it is vital that those affected and the society as a whole can put an end to impunity, creating strategies to recover the historical memory, of control and citizen vigilance to assure that justice is done; of reparation, reconciliation and political impact as vital conditions for the peace and democracy building.
In order to assure the success of the struggle against impunity, it is vital that the populations affected by political violence are protected physically and socially; that they recover their emotional health, systemise and strengthen their strategies of self-protection to prevent and bring under control new processes of violence by the armed actors responsible for the violation of their rights.

Considering that indigenous populations, their organisations and, especially women are the most affected by the internal conflicts, Project Counselling Service proposes contributing to the development of the process of information, education and communication (IEC) so that the citizenry can reach public opinion. It should also focus its attention in strengthening the skills of affected population for the organisation, defence and promotion of their rights. The population's participation in the processes of control and citizen vigilance and the exercise of government should be stressed, establishing relationships of equity and respect and taking into account their socio-cultural and linguistic identity.

In light of the disintegration and weakness of human rights organisations and of the entities that promote decentralisation, it is vital that their capabilities of having political impact are articulated and strengthened in public and private spheres, creating currents of opinion that promote rights and decentralisation, developing their pro-active capacity, facilitating joint actions towards and achieving impact in the formulation and application of national and regional policies and committing the international community in processes of political impact.

The sample consists of 30 photographs of women affected by political violence, accompanied with summaries of their life stories. The women participating in the National Encounter will also present this photo exhibit in several districts of Lima and in all the departments of the country. PCS has edited a catalogue that includes some photographs and testimonies of these women.

We consider that the process started by the TRC and, in particular, the Public Hearing on Political Violence and Crimes against Women need the leading participation of women, and their recognition, specially of those from the Andes and from the jungle valleys who suffered most from the political violence and who had been totally excluded.

We belief that this effort will help Peruvian men and women acknowledge and revalue the roles of these women during those years, and the need to include them now, in the process of transition to democracy.

Huancavelica.-
PCS decided to develop an integral program in the poorest and most excluded department of Peru, one that suffered the most violence, one with the least presence of international cooperation and of national NGOs, a situation that has been changing due to the efforts of the organisations of Huancavelica in recent years.

The Huancavelica Program constitutes a bet for the strengthening of the capabilities of the populations affected by political violence, of the local institutions and organisations (social organisations in general and especially peasant, of men and women and organisms and spaces of human rights, non-governmental organisation, local government and communal ombudsman offices) to participate and lead social and political processes which articulate public and private entities and other social actors around the defence and promotion of rights and the participation in democratisation processes among which decentralisation is the most important part of the current national political agenda.