Congreso de los Pueblos
Congreso de los Pueblos is a social movement that brings together different sectors and social actors. Since its launch in 2010, it has had a prominent role in the social mobilisations carried out in Colombia, especially in the agricultural strikes of 2013, 2014 and 2016. CISBCSC is a social movement that has gained support in the southern region of Bolívar and Central and South Cesar in Colombia in the past 12 years. It coordinates dialogues between communities within South Bolívar, the centre and south of Cesar, the Esperanza Norte de Santander and Puerto Wilches Santander and the national government.
The last couple of years of a peace process has raised hopes for an end to the decades long conflict that has plagued Colombia. However, the negotiations between the government and the FARCs have not had a significant impact on the safety and security of human rights defenders in the country, which remains one of the countries with the highest rates of killing of HRDs in the world. This situation seems to have deteriorated in 2015 with the UN highlighting the alarming number of HRDs killed, with 69 between January and August 2015, while the number was 35 for the same period in 2014.
