The Project
Jóvenes Rurales was a year-long project developed by ACPP (Asociación Catalana para la Paz y la Cooperación) focused on raising awareness about human rights defenders in post-conflict Colombia. Beyond the signing of the Peace Accords, Colombian society remained fractured — and organisations defending human rights continued to face systematic threats and persecution.
The communications campaign centred on the visit of Gerardo Vega, a Colombian human rights activist, and culminated in a public event co-hosted with professors from the University of Valencia, where an analytical report — ¿En qué va el acuerdo de paz en tierras y víctimas? — was presented to a general and academic audience.
ACPP externalises its communications function entirely. Throughout this project, I served as their de facto communications lead — the primary point of contact between the organisation and all media, design and audiovisual collaborators.
Scope & Responsibilities
Media strategy & press outreach: Developed the press strategy for the campaign, including direct outreach to journalists with existing relationships in the human rights and international affairs beat — among them contacts at Levante, À Punt, and the CVONGD media network. Managed personalised journalist contact for strategic placements, including a segment on À Punt featuring Gerardo Vega ahead of the main event.
Press materials: Drafted press releases and event convocatories, adapting content for mass distribution and personalised outreach — in Spanish and Valencian.
Event communications: Managed the full communications workflow for the public event: invitation design and copy, email campaign to the organisation’s database, targeted outreach to academic institutions, and registration management via Google Forms.
Social media: Created and scheduled all content for ACPP-PV’s social channels — written copy, image editing, bilingual adaptation (Spanish/Valencian) and coordination with ACPP’s national account for amplified reach.
Team coordination: Managed the working relationship between the organisation and a 3-person audiovisual and design team — briefing, feedback rounds and delivery across the full campaign lifecycle.
Impact dossier: Compiled a full communications dossier documenting all actions taken across the campaign — press coverage, social performance and event reach — for internal reporting and funder accountability.
What This Project Demonstrates
This project is a example of communications in a context where the stakes are high and the resources are lean. ACPP had no in-house communications team — which meant building strategy, managing relationships and producing materials simultaneously, while keeping the organisation’s voice consistent across channels, languages and audiences.
It also required sensitivity: translating the reality of human rights defenders in conflict zones for a Spanish public, without flattening the complexity of the issue or reducing lived experience to advocacy messaging.
Impact
- Sole communications lead for the full campaign duration (December 2022 – November 2023)
- Press strategy covering regional and national media, including broadcast outreach to À Punt
- Bilingual content production across social, email and press channels (Spanish / Valencian)
- 3-person audiovisual and design team coordinated throughout
- Full impact dossier delivered for funder reporting