On International Women's Day, the Victims Unit delivered more than 1,200 products to strengthen the socio-productive businesses of 8 women victims of armed conflict residing in Barranquilla, Soledad and Puerto Colombia.

Through the conversation "Empowerment and productive projects: a dynamic process", the Victims Unit commemorated International Women's Day by sharing the stories of improvement and entrepreneurship of eight women victims of armed conflict resident in the Department of Atlantic, to whom delivered quality equipment and supplies to strengthen their productive businesses.

In the event organized by the Victims Unit, with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), women received recognition for their leadership, dedication and work in the productive initiatives developed in the Atlantic, as a contribution to the strengthening of democracy, the construction of peace and reconciliation in Colombia.

The meeting carried out from the Regional Center of Barranquilla was attended by the Atlantic Territorial Director, Alfredo Palencia; the Regional Defender, Alma Riquett; officials of the Department of Social Prosperity and Mayor of Barranquilla, and relatives of the victims.

"All this is the result of the pilot project to support initiatives for the victim population of Unit that began in the middle of the previous year and with only 155 initiatives strengthened, it has been able to benefit more than 6,000 people," explained Alfredo Palencia, Territorial Director of the entity, during the installation of the commemoration.

"I am sure that they will see their lives transformed with this strengthening. We will be attentive to accompany you in the process of business growth, but it is very important that you as participants and beneficiaries of the strengthening remember that the success of this work is only achieved if you are the engines of your life project and that of your families. We ask them to make the best use of these inputs and goods delivered and take care of them, and that they can also give back to the victim population through the generation of employment and income for all to contribute to a better future of our Atlantic victim population", he added.

For her part, Rocío Castillo, victim of displacement and homicide, expressed gratitude during her participation in the conversation inviting other women to continue fighting with perseverance for each of their dreams and purposes in life affirming that "this strengthening of our initiatives business leads us to dream beyond what we had planned. "

The equipment and supplies delivered are for clothing, handicrafts, fast food, marketing of meat products, fish and dairy, crafts and decoration, and development of pool tables. Among them are: industrial sewing machines, filleting machines, steam irons, fabrics and threads, mannequins for tailoring and sewing, display cases, planer machine or carpentry edger, rimax chairs and tables, displays of necklaces and bracelets, kit boxes of jewelery, refrigerators, scales, set of knives, fast food cart, microwave ovens, among many more articles. The value of the investment was just over $ 64 million.

The Unit hopes that this strengthening can improve the quality of life of victims participating in the project and their families, and thus demonstrate the commitment of the entity in supporting the processes of individual reparation of the victim population in Atlantic department.