Grupo SURA shall provide its support to seven projects aimed at strengthening citizenship and democracy in Colombia, these having been selected as a result of the  #PensarconOtros 2022 call for proposals

 

  • In this second call, more than 800 proposals were received from 29 departments throughout the country and subsequently evaluated by 24 expert jurors.
  • The projects selected shall have an impact on the San Andrés Islands, the departments of Chocó, Cesar, Meta, Caquetá, Valle, the Santanders, Antioquia and Bolívar as well as the capital, Bogotá.
  • Up to COP 1.100 million shall be assigned for carrying out these selected projects.

An urban comedy that takes place in a cell phone chat room for promoting civic culture and peaceful coexistence; a proposed remembrance of the San Andres Islands that, based on art and oral history, recognizes people linked to drug trafficking who have disappeared out at sea; an animated short film about exiled Colombians as a result of the armed conflict; young people who perceive themselves as opposites engaging in dialogue with one another to build trust; opportunities for citizens to share their life stories as affected by violence; qualifying the ability of young people to participate, engage and mobilize; achieving changes in civic culture on the part of a youth empowerment network in Chocó.

These are just brief glimpses of the seven proposals selected in the second annual call for proposals on the part of #PensarConOtros this aimed at building citizenship and democracy in Colombia on the part of Grupo SURA, as announced this Thursday afternoon at the Suramericana Theater in Medellin. Assistance and support shall be given to the people and organizations in charge of carrying out all seven projects that fall into the following two categories, i) he appropriation of truth as an instrument of civic development; and ii) training in citizen culture.

"We thank each of more 800 proposals received from various parts of Colombia and congratulate the seven projects selected in this year´s annual call for proposals on the part of #PensarConOtros. This gives us hope for the collective will to build citizenship and strengthen our democracy based on various expressions including creativity, dialogue and memory thereby allowing us to acknowledge ourselves and move forward as a society," stated Maria Mercedes Barrera, Manager of Corporate Citizenship at Grupo SURA.

 Between July and August of this year, Grupo SURA received proposals from 29 departments throughout the country that met the conditions to be evaluated. The jury, consisting of 24 independent experts in various areas relating to the types of proposals called for , pre-selected 12 projects and after a final presentation, announced the seven that were finally selected this past Thursday. Significantly, all projects received recommendations, a shared learning experience for future opportunities.

Selected projects

Citizen Culture Training

  • A process of dialogue concerning the challenges and opportunities for youth participation in the departments of Cesar, Meta and Caquetá. Improbable Dialogue Platform Corporation. The objective here is to encourage conversations to help prevent conflict, mediate and facilitate dialogue and think about the future of the territory.
  • Villa Armonía. Camino S.A.S. A narrated story that takes place in a neighborhood chat room that includes eight residents of the Villa Armonía building, who face and solve problems regarding peaceful coexistence. The aim here is to highlight everyday situations relating to discrimination, freedom of religion and expression, improper use of public space, security, among others.
  • Synergistic culture: A civic culture communication center for territorial empowerment and peace building in the department of Chocó. Corporación la Voz del Pacífico. This project, addressing four municipalities in the Colombian Pacific region, is aimed at consolidating a network of youth empowerment and territorial development and includes communication skills in citizenship competencies.
  • A fabric of youngsters. The “Otraparte” Fernando González Corporation The aim here is to strengthen capabilities for community participation, network mobilization and communications among youngsters and youth organizations, mainly focusing on women, migrants, LGTBIQ+ and Afro populations, in Bogotá, Cúcuta and Medellín.

    Appropriation of the truth as an instrument for building citizenship
  • The children of the landscape: memories of the waters surrounding the Archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina Islands, poetic installations. Miss Nancy Land Corporation. This project addresses the memory of armed conflict in the archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina with an artistic representation, which includes a psychosocial methodology of accompaniment to testimonies of relatives of missing persons associated with drug trafficking.
  • Circles of speaking and listening: poetics and territorial polyphonic narratives revolving around the truth. La Colaboratoría Indefinida. The objective here is to create open opportunities for people from Cali, Cartagena, Barrancabermeja and Bogota to listen and share testimonies and narratives regarding  their life stories with regard to the country´s armed conflict, thereby allowing the participants to reflect on how to build a society for peace.
  • Transparent, stories of exiled Colombians. Hierro Animación S.A.S. is an animated short film aimed at fomenting greater awareness among the general public through stories of Colombians in exile as a result of the armed conflict.

    "With this second call for proposals on the part of #PensarConOtros, we shall continue to learn and connect up with social leaders and organizations so as to bring about conversations aimed at providing new ideas and establishing joint actions. This is the purpose of the #PensarConOtros call for proposals, as one of the initiatives with which we can move forward in helping to create a more harmonious level of development of Colombia," concluded the Manager of Corporate Citizenship at Grupo Sura.

    The Company shall sign an agreement with the selected projects so as to begin with the process of providing its support.. The four citizen training projects shall have a duration of up to two years and one year for the three truth appropriation projects. All seven projects shall share a pool of resources amounting to COP 1.1 billion.