Advocacy

Footnote: Following the murders of Efrén and Dilio Bailarín, PBI accompanied the emergency entry of JyP to the communities of Acandí and Alto Guayabal. The accompaniment provided protection and visibility to the communities, as they continued to receive threats in order to silence what had happened. Both Resguardos are under strong control by the AGC, which, as the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office itself points out, is also exerted over other communities in the area13. Thanks to PBI’s accompaniment, JyP was able to attend the leaders’ burials and express its support for the communities and their fierce defence of territory and peace. The entry into the municipality of Acandí, located in the north of the department of Chocó, has given JyP the hope of resuming accompaniment to the indigenous communities of the Chidima-Tolo and Pescadito reservations, where they have not been able to enter since August 2020.

1. Defensoría del Pueblo, ALERTA TEMPRANA N° 004-2022, 17 de febrero 2022.

2021 saw PBI Colombia gradually beginning to recover from the impacts caused by the pandemic. Thanks to the arrival of the new field brigadistas selected during the virtual training and selection meeting which was held in August 2020, there were 18 active field brigadistas (BT) in 2021.They included 16 women and 2 men from: Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States. During the year, new field volunteers were incorporated into the teams to replace those who were finishing their volunteer period. Overall, between the departure of BTs who finished their experience and the incorporation of new volunteers, PBI Colombia maintained this average of 18 field brigadistas throughout the year, who were divided between our three teams in Bogotá, Barrancabermeja and Urabá.

Virtual training and selection events

During the course of the year, two virtual training and selection events were held to replace the face-to-face format that was previously held annually in Spain. inety applications were received and processed for these meetings (78% women and 22% men). The selected volunteers joined the programme at four different moments during the year, at which time they participated in an initial orientation process: • 8 in February: 6 women and 2 men, from

Ireland, Greece, Spain, Argentina, Italy, Argentina,

Norway and Chile. • 2 in May: 1 woman and 1 woman, from

Switzerland and Spain. • 3 in June: 3 women, from France and Brazil. • 2 in September: 2 women, from Ireland and

France.

Ongoing training

Ongoing training activities increased and opportunities lost during the height of the pandemic’s impact were made up during the course of 2021.

In October, PBI Colombia held the first project retreat since the beginning of the pandemic. The retreat’s activities concentrated on ongoing training, the strengthening of PBI’s organisational culture, and internal capacity building.

Support Team

The staff structure of the support team and Colombian staff remained the same as in previous years. Meanwhile, staff adapted their working methods according to the measures and restrictions of the pandemic. At the beginning of the year, priority was given to working from home for the support team and Colombian staff while later in the year, work resumed in the home-office as conditions returned to normal. Although the structure of the support team remained stable, there were changes in personnel during the course of the year: one person from the Coordination area, one person from the Visibility and Advocacy area, two people from the Fundraising area and all four people from the area of Support for the Reconstruction of the Social Fabric and Digital Security were new in post. By the end of 2021, the core structure of the support team was consolidated and included 13 people (8 women and 5 men) from Germany, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Spain, the United States, France and Italy. As for the Colombian staff, the structure comprising 3 people in the administration and accounting office (2 women and 1 man) and 4 people for domestic and logistical support in the house-offices (4 women) was maintained as in previous years.

Psychosocial support

ARTS carried out collective spaces with both the support and field teams as well as follow-up spaces for individual project members. Furthermore, six external accompaniment sessions were carried out by Copsico and CAPS-Colombia (external psychosocial support organisations with whom we have a collaboration agreement) for project areas and teams, at different times throughout the year.

The psychosocial area (ARTS) developed and implemented internal accompaniment plans to address the impacts of the pandemic and the context of socio-political violence on PBI’s team.

Peace Brigades International (PBI) is an international non-governmental organisation that has maintained a permanent team of international observer-accompaniers in Colombia since 1994. PBI has Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the United Nations’ central forum for coordinating economic and social activities of the institutions and specialised agencies that make up the United Nations system. This recognition strengthens PBI’s role with the UN, in particular our ability to raise the issues of human rights defenders and to strengthen their protection measures. Given that PBI’s headquarters are based overseas, that 100% of its income comes from international sources, and that there are no specific accounting standards for this type of organisation, the accounting of its economic operations has been treated in the same way as that of non-profit organisations in general. PBI Colombia’s accounting standards comply with the guidelines of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in Colombia; its operations comply with the rules contained in Law 1314 and its regulatory decrees 2420 and 2496 of 2015 – IFRS for SMEs. The accounts of the Project have been audited by the firm CIP Auditores Ltda.

Exchange Difference

The financial statements of PBI Colombia are valued in Colombian pesos (currency in which economic, financial and equity operations are recorded in Colombia), at the end of each accounting period, and are presented in dollars (currency in which income and expenses incurred in the United States are recorded) and in euros (for income and expenses incurred in the Eurozone). Revenues and expenses are accounted for in the currency in which they are incurred. The monetisation of income in the account “Donations to be received” and the recording of accounts receivable or advances and the justifications for these in currencies other than the peso and in different months give rise to the use of the account “Exchange difference”. These entries are made in the income statement. The figures and results presented below correspond to the 2021 period and reflect the financial situation of the Peace Brigades International (PBI) Colombia Project. In this regard, the resources transferred by international agencies for the development of the project within Colombia are accounted for as income, and the expenses derived from the activities corresponding to the institutional mandate are accounted for as expenses. At present, there are no investments or accounts that generate interest that can be considered as income from national sources, which is subject to income tax. The organisation recognises as expenses costs those generated in relation to the accrual and association of income, which are always regulated by the general budget.

Financial Statements at the Closing of the Annual Accounts

At year-end 2021, 31 December, the accounts show a surplus for the year of €17,457. Total (operating) income amounted to €702,756 and (operating) expenses amounted to €708,536. Other non-operating income includes an exchange rate differential of €23,749, plus income from Recoveries and Discounts of €2,788, giving a total income of €729,300.

TOTAL EXPENSES= € 711,843 OPERATIONAL= € 708,536 NON-OPERATIONAL= € 3.307

TOTAL INCOME = € 729,300 OPERATIONAL INCOME = € 702,756 NON-OPERATIONAL INCOME = € 26,544

Expenses

Colombian staff Representatives in USA / EUROPE Field Volunteers Specialist Volunteers Capacity Building and Training of PBI Personnel € Housing and Food Volunteers Operating Expenses Physical accompaniment: materials, transport and daily expenses Media accompaniment: publications, website and social media Political accompaniment: advocacy activities and tours Psychosocial accompaniment and capacity building of defenders Governance at Project level Governance at PBI International level € 68.186 € 80.192 € 97.899 € 118.758 € 12.424 € 86.625 € 20.634 € 61.659 € 14.007 € 19.606 € 11.955 € 44.185 € 72.406

€ 708.536 REVENUE FROM FOUNDATIONS, UNIONS, CHURCHES, ETC., BY COUNTRY

Operational income

Governmental income by country

Germany Spain Norway

Income: foundations, trade unions, churches etc. By country

Ireland Belgium Switzerland

National groups and individual donors income / Others

Multilateral income € 516.058

€ 34.716 € 274.620 € 206.722

€ 126.578 € 78.797 € 1.466 € 46.315

€ 3.438

€ 56.682

€ 702.756 0,49%

PBI COLOMBIA IS A PROJECT MADE POSSIBLE THANKS TO:

ACCD (Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation) | AEXCID (Extremadura Agency for International Development Cooperation) | Barcelona City Council | Pamplona City Council | San Sebastian City Council – Donostiako Udala | AVCD (Basque Agency for Development Cooperation) | CEAR (Spanish Refugee Aid Commission) | Christian Aid | Civil Peace Service – CPS | Government of Navarra | Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs | Bread for the World – Brot für die Welt | Protect Defenders – The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) | UE European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights I PBI Canada I PBI Catalonia I PBI France I PBI Germany I PBI Navarra I PBI Netherlands I PBI Norway I PBI Spain I PBI UK

PBI opens spaces for peace in Colombia

www.pbicolombia.org

Peace Brigades International is an international NGO that protects the action space of people and organisations that defend human rights, and communities that are threatened because of their work in defence of the most fundamental rights. It has maintained a team carrying out international accompaniment in Colombia since 1994.

PBI Colombia Project Representative for the USA and Canada repusa@pbicolombia.net Tel. (+57) 310 293 8329 PBI Colombia Project Representative for Europe coordinacion.europa@pbicolombia.net Tel. (+34) 634 256 339 PBI Delegation in Colombia Bogotá, Colombia coin@pbicolombia.net Tel. (+57) 1287 0403