The working group on the social protection education programme is now active in Colombia, with bimonthly meetings. The process is being led by the local mutual society GESTARSALUD and the organisation representing mutual societies in Latin America, AMA, a member of AIM.
The programme will help young people prepare for working life by learning about the issues around health and social protection, using modules that will teach them about values and principles, responsibilities, the content of social protection in the broad sense, the importance of social relations and the role of social economy and solidarity based organisations.
The two first working sessions served to situate the project within the Colombian context.
The first important and specific point is that: the module on values and principles must include a section on peace, an essential condition for the success of any action in a country whose recent history has been marked by internal conflict.
The second specific item is that the programme must adapted to two very different contexts in Colombian society: town and country.
Finally, the programme will be built up from a pilot phase which will focus on the role of mutual health insurance societies, the veritable “Swiss knives” of social protection.
The first pilot programmes are due to be deployed before the summer in a university for the towns and in a rural training centre for the countryside.
Thanks to AMA, the program will then be extended to other countries in Latin America.
