About Us

We are a network of young people organizing to defend rights, strengthen communities, and transform our territories.

Since 2006, we have been building youth participation and promoting the effective guarantee of human rights in Colombia.

The Youth Human Rights Network (RJDH) began informally in 2006 in Nariño, Colombia, as a spontaneous and creative initiative led by young people from diverse social and cultural backgrounds and community processes

Its initial purpose was to bring together ideas and proposals to influence the enactment of Law 1098 of 2006, the Colombian Children and Adolescents’ Code, and contribute to ensuring an effective framework for protecting the rights of children and adolescents.

In 2007, driven by the need to sustain and expand this collective effort, its founders decided to formally establish the organization. RJDH subsequently broadened its work to monitor and advocate for the implementation of the law, promote accountability, and influence youth public policies at the national level.

Between 2008 and 2009, the organization further strengthened its capacities when several founders participated in the Youth Leadership School for Social Transformation, an initiative led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) within Nariño’s Departmental Strategy for Adolescence and Youth. This experience strengthened their leadership, social commitment, and vision for territorial transformation.

The Youth Human Rights Network (RJDH) works to advance the full realization and protection of young people’s human rights in Colombia, including civil, political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights. Through education, participation, and capacity building, we empower young people to become active leaders in transforming their communities. We seek to contribute to a more just, peaceful, and inclusive society while improving the living conditions of young people. Our work embraces an intergenerational perspective that connects experiences, knowledge, and capacities across generations, fostering inclusive dialogue and contributing to structural and sustainable change in support of human rights.

The Youth Human Rights Network (RJDH) aspires to become a leading youth-led organization in Colombia, driven by young people committed to social transformation. We envision an innovative and holistic approach that responds to the realities and challenges facing young people through interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together diverse fields of knowledge; intergenerational exchange, connecting experiences and perspectives across generations; and cross-sector partnerships that bring together public, private, and civil society actors. Through this vision, we seek to contribute to sustainable transformations in communities, strengthen youth leadership and empowerment, and advance the effective realization of human rights throughout Colombia.

Our values guide everything we do and reflect RJDH’s commitment to human rights, youth leadership, and social transformation.

Justice

We promote equity and the protection of human rights, working to address inequalities and ensure opportunities and dignified conditions for all young people.

Solidarity

We foster collaboration, mutual support, and shared responsibility among young people, generations, and communities, recognizing that sustainable change is built collectively.

Empowerment

We strengthen youth autonomy, participation, and leadership, enabling young people to exercise their rights and become active agents of change.

Sustainability

We promote responsible relationships with the environment and the conscious use of natural resources, recognizing the close connection between environmental protection, wellbeing, and human rights.

Inclusion

we value social, cultural, and territorial diversity and work toward societies free from discrimination and exclusion, where everyone can participate and fully exercise their rights.

Dignity & Respect:

We recognize the inherent value of every person and promote relationships based on respect, equality, and recognition of differences.

Participation

We uphold the right of young people and communities to express their views, participate in decision-making, and influence matters affecting their lives and territories.

We adopt a human rights-based approach with youth, territorial, gender, intercultural, environmental, and intergenerational perspectives. We promote participatory processes that recognize the knowledge, experiences, and capacities of communities and bring together young people, organizations, institutions, and other stakeholders to develop inclusive and sustainable responses to social, environmental, and human rights challenges.

The Youth Human Rights Network (RJDH) works across southwestern Colombia, a region characterized by its cultural and territorial diversity and its shared border with Ecuador. Our experience and territorial presence extend primarily across the departments of Nariño, Cauca, and Putumayo, where we work alongside young people, communities, and local organizations to promote human rights and social transformation.

Nariño is currently the center of our operations and the main territory from which we coordinate our initiatives and partnerships. From there, we extend our work across southwestern Colombia, adapting our actions to the particular realities, needs, and capacities of each community and territory.

Throughout our journey, the Youth Human Rights Network has found in its partners and allies a fundamental source of support to expand the reach of our work, strengthen our capacities, and create new opportunities for young people and communities.

We believe in the power of partnerships built on trust, collaboration, and a shared vision. Working alongside civil society organizations, public institutions, private entities, international organizations, universities, and youth-led groups allows us to bring together knowledge, experience, and resources to respond more effectively to the challenges facing our communities.

Every partnership is an opportunity to learn, innovate, and build collective solutions. To our partners and allies, thank you for believing in young people, trusting our work, and walking alongside us toward more just, inclusive, peaceful, and sustainable communities.

We have had the privilege of working alongside the following organizations and institutions:

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