Red Juvenil

The Medellin Youth Network is a youth organization that operates explicitly on principles of nonviolence.

Started in 1990 by young people who had lost loved ones to the armed conflict, the group trains youth in nonviolence and cooperative play, supports young men who refuse to serve with the police, military or illegal armed groups, and promotes respect for human rights and youth's ideas in Colombian society. A core group of about 30 young people work out of the group's office and gathering space, a large house not far from the city center. Another 150 youth organized into neighborhood and issue groups are regularly involved in their activities.

The Network's first members came together for mutual support. They wanted to break the stigma that "youth" equaled "violence" by making their pacifist views public. Their first actions were instinctive responses to violence in the city and included processions from the poor hillside neighborhoods that ring the city, with music and theater that expressed the participants' rejection of violence.

The heart of the Network's mission is to encourage young people's belief in the value of all human life, to work together to overcome fear, and to become empowered to live and espouse these values. Their conscientious objection project exemplifies this approach. Male Colombians graduating from secondary school are required to serve a year in the police or the army, and there is no provision for alternative service or refusal on grounds of conscience. Those who do refuse are barred from higher education and from many jobs. The Network provides support to conscientious objectors, in addition to publicizing the issue of conscientious objection in the media and on the street.

For a more detailed history of the Red, click here.