At the Compaz Foundation, we believe that individuals have the ability to transform their communities through conscious leadership, the strengthening of peace-building skills and the exchange of knowledge. Diana, Nevis and Lali are young people who, despite the circumstances, have managed to move forward and set an example of reconciliation and teamwork. In addition, they have developed innovative ideas that promote peace-building in their territories through dancing, entrepreneurship and communications.
All three #CompazLeaders attended the One Young World Annual Summit 2021 that took place in Munich, Germany from July 22nd to 25th. In this event they had the opportunity to meet young leaders from all over the world, exchange experiences in peace-building, share their life stories and community processes, come up with innovative actions to address climate change and, above all, to show the vision of young people in Colombia to transform our country.
On the last day of the Summit, the #CompazLeaders shared a plenary session with our founder, Juan Manuel Santos, called “The future of Colombia’s peace is in the hands of young people”; their participation reaffirmed something that we have always known at Compaz: the people are the greatest asset for peace-building in Colombia.
Diana is a young dancer from Tumaco, a municipality in the Nariño department in Colombia, and she is the founder of a dance company called Pacific Dance.
At Pacific Dance, boys, girls and young people meet three times a week to learn new dance steps and choreographies, managing to make dance an option to stay away from conflict.
Diana has succeeded in creating a strategy to prevent the recruitment of children by illegal armed groups, consolidating a peace-building mechanism in Tumaco.
Nevis is a 26-year-old leader from El Charco, a municipality in the Nariño department in Colombia. He is currently studying to obtain his bachelor's degree in international business and education.
He is the head of Frutichar, a social entrepreneurship project that promotes native fruit crops to substitute illicit crops. Through Frutichar, Nevis and his team provide job stability to young people who are victims of the conflict and to single mothers in their territory.
Laly is a 19-year-old young man from Guapi, a municipality in the Cauca department in Colombia. He is part of the Communications network of boys, girls, teenagers and youth of Guapi, a project that seeks to empower youth on issues related to citizen participation, communication, advocacy and peace-building.
In his childhood, Laly was a victim of the armed conflict due to the multiple confrontations between insurgent groups in the Colombian Pacific coast. Nevertheless, he is a leader who promotes reconciliation and forgiveness.
Laly's participation in One Young World’s Annual Summit 2021 is thanks to Save The Children Colombia.
