Social and Economic Development

Enhancing the study and practice of Catholic peacebuilding.

100 Hesburgh Center
Notre Dame, IN 46556
USA

574.631.9370 phone
574.631.6973 fax

cpn@nd.edu

"The CPN is a much-needed way to support the courageous and mostly unheralded efforts of the Church to build peace in war-torn countries from Central Africa to Southern Asia."

Bishop John Ricard
Chairman, U.S. Bishops' International Policy Committee

"The CPN is a space of exchange, encounter and discovery where we help each other understand our peace-work, generated in faith and actualized in history."

Andrea Bartoli
Community of Sant' Egidio,
USA

"CPN is another concrete way of building solidarity among peacebuilders around the world. The energy that it will bring will help us in facing the many difficult challenges of peacebuilding work in our different contexts. My hope is that we are able to bring the same energy eventually to the communities directly affected by war, violence and conflict - creating not only a network of peacebuilders but more imoprtantly a network of communities all over the world."

Myla Leguro
Peace & Reconciliation
Program Manager
CRS-Phillippines

Overview of Colombian Conflict -- The Catholic Church's Role in Peacebuilding-- Internal Displacement -- Human Rights -- Social and Economic Development -- Peace Processes -- Education for Peace -- Reconciliation -- International Solidarity

Social and Economic Development

The Church beliefs the roots of the conflict lie in the poverty and inequality that mars Colombian society. Decades of development have led to economic exclusion and the concentration of power and wealth. Therefore, the Church supports grassroots local and regional projects to support development that is inclusive and encourages and sustains solidarity.

Since 1995, the Network for Development and Peace Foundation of Montes de Maria (Fundación Red Desarrollo y Paz de los Montes de María) has administered the Magdalena Medio Peace and Development Programme (PDPMMs). This program is based on a model of regional development and peace. This project invests funds in cooperative local sustainable initatives. In this way, these initiatives encourage human capacity, create social relationships anew, strengthen local organizing and democratic participation and promote sustainable development. It has connected governmental, academic, business, religious and other civil society groups and is led by a managementment consortium consisting of the Barrancabermeja Diocese and the Jesuit Popular Investigation and Education Center (Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular, CINEP).

The Middle Magdalena Program is an example of how churches have taken the lead in designing and implementing comprehensive development programs that offer alternatives to violence and address the root causes of poverty and injustice at the local level. This conceptualization of peace is rooted in the attainment of human security in which basic human needs are an integral part.

For more information:

Katz Garcia, Mauricio. "A Regional Peace Experience: The Magdalena Medio Peace and Development Programme" Accord: Alternatives to War Colombia's Peace Processes. 2004.