For more than 60 years, the Ford Foundation has supported human rights, economic development and democracy in the Andean Region. 

During the early years, grantmaking efforts focused on educational advancement and productive development. As dictatorships took power across the region in the 1970s and 1980s, we provided support to human rights defenders and groups that documented human rights abuses with a strong focus on the Southern Cone. Throughout the 1990s, as the region experienced democratization, the foundation promoted transitional justice by supporting truth commissions and other initiatives dedicated to preserving historical memory. We remained committed to economic justice, helping to develop microfinance programs, and working to promote women’s rights and reproductive health, as well as government accountability and transparency.

Throughout our history, we have had offices in several countries across the region–including Venezuela, Argentina, Peru, Chile, and now, Colombia. Our office in Bogotá opened in 2016, coinciding with the signing of the peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas. The foundation has supported efforts to implement the peace agreement and move the conversation about inequality and its drivers beyond the dilemma of war and peace in Colombia. Working mostly on the Pacific Coast of Colombia and the Southern Andes of Peru, our support emphasizes the rights and voices of Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendant communities, the protection of natural resources, and the need to address deepening polarization in the region.