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The Equality and Territorial Development for Rural Women programme draws on Oxfam’s 10-year experience in Colombia and its evidence-based advocacy work that has led to significant changes in women’s lives. It has been reviewed, along with Oxfam’s strategy for the country, following the results of the October 2016 peace plebiscite and subsequent agreement with the FARC to ensure relevance of focus and interventions within the changed context.

The programme seeks to ensure that rural women, especially young, indigenous, and Afro-Colombian women, lead and influence peacebuilding processes and contribute to reducing inequality in Colombia. Its specific objective is to strengthen women’s organizations and support transformative leadership of rural women, particularly their ability to influence policies, promote peacebuilding and rural development agendas, and to reduce inequality. The programme specifically targets rural women with an emphasis on young women from ethnic groups and includes a focus on the following thematic areas: violence against women and girls; access to safe water; care work; fiscal justice; land rights; livelihoods; and peacebuilding. This last area is particularly important, considering the gap in the peace agreement around rural women’s rights and agency.