In Colombia, people with disabilities are an active part of building peace with social and environmental justice: “Our legacy is life.”
On the 23rd, 24th, and 25th, the First National Meeting of People with Disabilities was held in Medellín (Antioquia) within the framework of the Peace Negotiation Table promoted by the current Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN). The Colombian Social Movement for Disability (MOSODIC) is part of the National Participation Committee (CNP), along with 30 other social, political, and economic organizations in the country.
In this way, this event constitutes a historic milestone of participation, expressed in the pluricultural diversity of people with disabilities and their grassroots organizations: victims of the armed conflict, frontline youth, indigenous people, women, students, artisans, artists, athletes, fishermen, guardians of water and moorlands, professionals, farmers, Afro-descendants, teachers and peace signatories, with the aim of contributing to an agenda of transformations for peace, based on a social and political alliance that leads to a Great National Agreement for overcoming the political, social, economic and armed conflict.
According to the latest National Census in Colombia, approximately 8% of the population are people with disabilities, the vast majority of whom live in poverty and extreme poverty. Many of them are, and have been, victims of the armed conflict, social injustice, and violence stemming from the country's deep-seated inequalities.
The participation of people with disabilities in the political, economic, and social processes of Latin American countries has been limited to minimal and biased representation; their voices have only been heard when they exercise their right to protest, with equally limited results. Colombia is no exception. This is why MOSODIC and the various organizations of people with disabilities have become a relevant actor for Colombia and the continent. More than 170 people with disabilities, leaders in organizational processes across all 30 departments, met to deliberate and propose a framework for the Great National Peace Agreement, sharing the diverse experiences of disability within their linguistic, political, economic, and sociocultural contexts.
Under the eco-social slogan, “Our Legacy is Life,” promoted by MOSODIC, struggles were shared and made visible, ranging from land restitution, the exercise of memory and non-repetition, the fight against mining and extractivism and for the environment, the right to education and decent work, the exercise of active participation, and the rights of women, children, and adolescents in all territories.
This is why, since the CLACSO Working Group on Critical Disability StudiesWe want to recognize and embrace this hard work, and especially the Colombian Social Movement for Disability, MOSODIC, for opening paths of effective and binding participation for people with disabilities in Colombia and throughout Latin America.
People with disabilities, illnesses, neurodivergent identities, and mental illness are political, historical, epistemic, and ecosocial subjects. We are actors and agents of our own transformations. Our voices are important for envisioning a future world that is more just, equitable, caring for life, and loving toward all existence.
#OurLegacyIsLife
November 2th 2023
CLACSO Working Groups
Critical studies in disability
This text expresses the position of CLACSO Working Groups Critical Studies in Disability and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.
