Opening doors for communities hit hard by violence.

• Author: Ramirez, Vanessa
• Position: INTER-AMERICAN SYSTEM

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Ustacio Coronell is a Colombian with an enthusiastic personality and expressive face. He is also a former member of a paramilitary group called the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC). Currently he is in the process of reintegrating into civilian life after deciding to join a demobilization program created during President Álvaro Uribe's first term. Ustacio sells coffee on the streets of Barranquilla to earn enough money so that he and his family can finally improve their quality of life. Ustacio is also one of more than 2,250 direct beneficiaries of Mi Llave ("My Key"), a project that helps opens doors to better social spaces and new challenges on the way to making personal dreams come true. "I want to be able understand computer systems and apply them to my life project. That is my hope," Ustacio says earnestly.

Mi Llave is an initiative that is being implemented in eleven Colombian cities. Its mission is to network with governments, private enterprises, organizations, and other groups to help people who are reintegrating into civilian life, are in a situation of forced displacement, or are part of other communities affected by violence in Colombia. The programs are aimed at helping people feel included in society and providing them with productive opportunities. This is done by using information and communications technologies in a citizen education program with a socio-cultural component.

In the communities where the Mi Llave centers are located, more than 3,300 people have made use of the rooms where they receive computer training and find a space to meet and mingle with family, friends, and people from the community in general.

For three years now, Trust for the Americas, a cooperation agency of the Organization of American States (OAS) has been supporting Colombian government activities through the active participation of the private sector. The vital intervention of this economic and social actor is led by Microsoft under the OAS mandate to facilitate mediations on displaced persons in Colombia.

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Government initiatives aimed at reintegrating demobilized paramilitary members into their communities or at lessening the suffering of displaced communities are not easy to establish in new places. They require the intervention of various actors who use their different perspectives and experiences to focus on real change.

Given the need for multi-sectoral work, Mi Llave has been established as...