Supported by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, ONIC runs advocacy spaces with local and national institutions, authorities and decision-makers. Esneda’s goal is to raise awareness, increase visibility and find solutions for indigenous communities still affected by violence and forced displacement despite Colombia’s 2016 Peace Agreement with the country’s largest irregular armed group, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Since 1985, nearly 694,000 indigenous people have been forcibly displaced by Colombia’s armed conflict, according to the National Victims Unit, including more than 73,000 between 2022 and 2024 alone.

While the Yukpa people are already in a struggle for survival, Esneda stressed that the threats posed by the climate emergency and biodiversity loss will affect everyone, everywhere. The only hope for a solution lies in collective action.

“Our voices must come together for the sake of Mother Earth, water, trees and all life,” she said. “Together, we must protect the lives of our children and all humanity living on this planet.”