Abstract:

One of the most significant events in the history of Colombia happened the last November 24th, 2016. It was the signing of the peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia –FARC in Spanish–. This insurgent group was one of the oldest revolutionary groups in the American continent which the Colombian State had struggled with for more than 50 years.

The war between the national government and FARC, manifested in diverse forms of generalized violence, caused an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the history of Colombia: enforced disappearances, kidnappings, targeted killing, massacres, sexual violence, among others. The Peace agreement aims to build an inclusive and reconciled society which guarantees stable and lasting peace. Reparation for victims of the armed conflict in the national reconciliation process agreed, is a way of healing the wounds caused by the war. Law 1448 of 2011 defines victims of the armed conflict as "those persons who individually or collectively have suffered harm for events dating from January 1, 1985, as a result of international humanitarian law breaches or gross violations to the rules of international human rights, within the Colombian internal armed conflict". (Article 3).

In this regard, the population from the municipality of San Juan Nepomuceno, located in Bolivar department, in Colombia, in the Montes de María region, were not exempt from the effects of violence emanating from illegal armed groups and legally constituted forces. Countless women were widowed and, despite the adversities of the war and the country economic conditions, they continued to struggle with their families to get ahead.

Therefore, the present work aims to characterize women head of families, victims of the armed conflict in the municipality of San Juan Nepomuceno — Bolívar (Montes de María Region, Northern Colombia), due to the fact that its inhabitants were not exempt from the effects of the violence arisen from the conflict between both sides out of law groups and the legally conformed ones. A countless number of women widowed and in spite of the war sequels and the own poor economic conditions of the country, they kept on struggling to move forward. Hence, a characterization of those women, taking into account their needs and realities in their personal, family and social environment is going to be carried out to recognize the opportunities for intervention that could be implemented in this community, to contribute from the academy to the objectives of the peace agreements. For these purposes, the researchers applied research techniques such as the focus group (Goetz & Lecompte (1988)), semi-structured interviews (Lázaro and Asensi, 1987), parameterized instruments for the measurement of resilience and a sociodemographic record to know in depth the characteristics proper to their living conditions.

References:
[1] Díaz, E. (2013, April 4). Change the world. What is Educare? [web log post] Recovered from http://www.estebandiaz.es/que-es-educare/
Congress of the Republic of Colombia. (2011a). Law 1448 of 2011. Recovered from
http://www.secretariasenado.gov.co/senado/basedoc/ley_1448_2011.html
[2] Lázaro, A. and Asensi, J. (1987): The interview. Manual school counseling and tutoring. Madrid: Narcea.
[3] Goetz J. & Lecompte M. (1988). Ethnography and qualitative design in educational research. Madrid: Editions

Keywords:

Women, families, armed conflict, victims, Needs.