The Corporación Des-Enclave was formed as a result of the reflections of the local community regarding how to improve community life in regions commonly referred to as 'enclaves', regions characterised by high levels of natural resources that make them centres for extraction with very little investment from the state, and minimal respect for fundamental human rights. Based on the reflections of the community, Des-Enclave focuses on small-scale local projects with the objective of improving living conditions in the community, increasing participation in community life, and rethinking development so that it is sustainable and not based on booms brought about by discoveries of natural resources.

Its work focuses on accompanying local community processes and strengthening them; providing communities with the tools so that they can deal with their conflicts themselves in a peaceful manner; enabling communities to understand the context in which they live; and generating strategies to enable communities to deal with their issues without outside interference and influence.

It has created a solidarity network comprised of organisations and individuals who can offer their professional abilities or specific interests in workshops or activities which the organisations decide are of interest to them.

Major achievements

• Since February 2013, 14 village communities have come together with 2 organisations in a highly conflictive area to conclude plans for a Community School in Bajo Cauca.
• The successful '1^st Regional Meeting of the Community School' which allowed for conflicts in the region to be identified. The conflicts were prioritised, and a plan of action was agreed to deal with them. Prior to this activity, workshops on how to deal with conflicts were carried out within the different communities.
• As part of the Community School, a training programme was started for two members of each community in community health and first aid (in the region the nearest hospital is six hours away, 3 hours on mule and 3 hours in a car). There is now a process to conform to a regional health committee and carry out a second series of training workshops.
• In September 2013, workshops were carried out that looked into the prevention of child sex abuse.

The successes of the corporation can be summarised as the following:

• Forming the Community School with a limited budget.
• Generating discussions and actions in relation to community participation.
• Tackling conflicts based on community justice and using alternative methodologies such as conflict mediation.
• Initiating debates regarding economic activities from the perspective of community interests and not the interests of individuals.
• Working with the communities so that they have the tools which allow them to act as social actors inside their regional dynamic, allowing them to define their interests for themselves.