Colombia
A nation-wide network of youth-led organizations
UNICEF Colombia has implemented the Adolescent Kit since 2019 through the country-wide Adolescentes En Movimiento (“Adolescents on the Move”) initiative. Adolescentes En Movimiento is a network of children and adolescents formed by UNICEF and its partners to strengthen young people’s knowledge of their human rights, commitment to peaceful coexistence, and participation and leadership in their local communities.
"Through simple things we can build great things, this is what happens in life, through problems we can get lessons that make us see life in another positive way and use our creativity to solve them."
Using approaches and activities from the Adolescent Kit, Adolescents En Movimiento youth facilitators support younger adolescents from local communities in forming ‘Adolescent Circles.’ Working together in their circles, the adolescents participate in activities that strengthen their competencies, especially those in relation to conflict resolution and problem management, critical thinking and decision-making, communication and expression, creativity and innovation, and empathy and respect. Adolescent Circles have been convened across six areas of the country, Nariño, Cundinamarca, Antioquia, Cauca, Sucre and Córdoba, and are expanding in new regions. Several circles are led by youth who participated in UNICEF projects as younger children. Adolescentes En Movimiento has engaged nearly 7,000 children, adolescents, and youth in these areas, who in turn reach out and engage more peers.
"We decided to restore the school in Marinilla and appropriate this space, inviting the children of this community to paint it with us, because we believe in the importance of the school as a meeting and learning center."
At the onset of the COVID-19 crisis in early 2020, UNICEF Colombia was a lead innovator in adapting the Adolescent Kit for use in remote programming to reach adolescents under stay-at-home orders. New materials, designs and strategies created by the UNICEF Colombia team with its partners and adolescents were incorporated into the Adolescent Kit Adapted Package for COVID-19, which was further expanded for global use. Adolescents in Colombia contributed to the development and implementation of these new programme resources, first by identifying competencies they wanted to develop to cope with the pandemic, and then by testing and sharing feedback as they participated in activities that addressed those competencies. Through its development and testing of the Adapted Package UNICEF Colombia also established a feedback mechanism to enable groups of adolescents to share feedback directly with UNICEF Colombia about their experiences implementing the Adolescent Kit through their initiatives.
"It was one of the most beautiful activities that have been done in our circle, because we all work as a team and know how to join our ideas and let our creativity explode. I had the opportunity that day, to meet people with whom I had not been able to socialize with more thoroughly, and to realize that all of us here are inspired and moved by the same reason: the love for life and the desire that other people love her too."
"The activity cross the river is interesting because it highlights teamwork and in turn makes each participant think of a strategy to win as a team. We learn to take care of the instruments we have, but also take care of others. This let us know that when you go alone you can win fast, but going with other lets you go far."
