Are you interested in volunteering with PBI in Colombia?

Your chance to support threatened human rights activists and get great experience

Peace Brigades International is looking for field volunteers for their Colombia team. The deadline for applications to work in Colombia is 2nd March 2024.

PBI provides protective accompaniment to individuals, communities, grassroots movements and NGOs flighting against impunity and violence whilst working toward securing various protection mechanisms – from land and environmental rights, to women’s rights, LGBTQI+ rights, minority rights and access to justice.

As a PBI field volunteer, you will live and work as part of a culturally diverse international team which uses consensus decision-making to function horizontally. PBI provides a specialised training process, based on more than 40 years of experience of international accompaniment. You will have the opportunity to learn about non-violent resistance movements and accompany defenders dedicating their lives to conflict transformation and peace-building. You will also have the chance to learn about a broad range of activities related to the international solidarity movement, including human rights observance and analysis, advocacy and lobbying, security and protection training, exploratory processes which widen PBI’s reach, as well as communications and administrative tasks related to the organisation’s strategy.

A day in the life of a PBI volunteer is never the same!

Requirements to volunteer in the field with PBI :

Essential:

• You must be a national of a country other than the country you volunteer in*

• High level of spoken, written and read Spanish.

• High motivation for volunteering following the principles of non-partisanship, non-violence and international solidarity.

• Respect for social struggles and local protagonism.

• Commit to a minimum of 12 months volunteering.

• Participate in the required processes of training and selection.

Recommended:

• Work experience (salaried or voluntary) in human rights organisations, peace, development, cooperation, social movements, grassroots movements, cooperatives, etc.

• Eperience of teamwork and group coexistence, especially under stressful situations. Theoretical and practical knowledge of individual and collective mental health care tools.

• Work experience in advocacy, communication, conflict resolution, security and/or protection.

• Availability to work horizontally under a decision-making structure by consensus.

• Knowledge of the area of ​​human rights.

• Sensitivity and awareness of historical and present inequalities, privilege and oppression.

• Commitment to gender equity.

• Work experience in research and information management.

• Analytical capacity and knowledge of the political and social context of Honduras.

• Eperience or knowledge of word processors, email, social networks and databases.

• Experience in a national PBI project or group (if applicable).

• Minimum age of 25 years old.**

*Own Country Rule: No national person can work on their own country's project, either as an observer/volunteer, or as a member of the Project Committee or Office.

**PBI policy against age discrimination: Age is not an impediment to working in our projects. However, there is a need for mature and experienced people as volunteers need to be able to responsibly assess risk and safety issues and because the organization needs to present an experienced image when interacting with high-ranking authorities. For these reasons, volunteers are often over 25 years of age.

How can I apply?

Full details of the recruitment process can be found here (in Spanish).

The training and selection process consists of an application, an interview, online self-training and full guided training to get you ready to join our frontline teams!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact coeq@pbicolombia.net.

You can find FAQs about the work of PBI Colombia here!

We look forward to hearing from you!