ARN works hand in hand with ex-combatants and communities, seeking to contribute to coexistence, reconciliation, peace and stabilization of the territories.

When a former combatant and their family come in pursuit of an economic, personal or social activity in a community, they may face barriers such as rejection, stigmatization or mistrust.

In order to achieve success and sustainability in the processes of reintegration and reincorporation to civilian and social life, ARN promotes spaces for participation, coexistence, trust-building and reconciliation, while strengthening protective environments for children, adolescents and young people.

Since 2007, the ARN model of work with communities has carried out 552 interventions to benefit 36,881 Colombians in 29 departments. Each of these interventions has become an opportunity to build trust in the territories.

ARN works hand in hand with the communities through three action lines:

• Strengthening protective environments for children and youngsters: through community territorial initiatives and the “Mambrú, This is a Different Story” strategy, which promotes civic education and provide alternatives for the good use of free time.
• Strengthening community settings for coexistence and reconciliation: through community territorial initiatives and the Community Strengthening Model – MFC (from its Spanish language initials - Modelo de Fortalecimiento Comunitario), which promotes relationships of trust, coexistence and reconciliation in places where ex-combatants live or carry out productive activities with communities that were affected by violence.
• Strengthening capacities for the exercise of citizenship of the target population through initiatives such as the promotion of leadership and the participation of women ex-combatants and communities.

To accomplish this, the work-with-communities approach features four main stages: a reading of the territory, citizen education and capacity strengthening, visibility actions and community assessment.

• In Catatumbo, ex - combatants and communities work hand in hand to develop community projects


• In three municipalities of Caquetá, ex - combatants work hand in hand with communities to improve coexistence


• “Mambrú”' strategy returns to territory to provide accompaniment to 1,300 girls, boys and young people


• The Agency for Reincorporation strengthens coexistence with ex - combatants, in 19 departments


• “I am a woman, we are change” (“Soy mujer, somos cambio” - in Spanish): the voices of ex combatants and members of the communities arrive in Bogotá