Colombia is rich in biodiversity, natural resources and fertile lands, but it is one of the most unequal countries in the world, in which the humans rights of millions of people go unfulfilled. About 6 million hectares of land have been abandoned and forcibly appropriated from rural  communities and ethnic groups, and 8 million people have been affected by forced displacement. Furthermore, forced disappearances; torture; extrajudicial killings; the murder of leaders and human rights defenders; the repression of peaceful social protest; sexual violence; for violations of the rights of women and the LGBT population, the rights of the prison population; impunity and a failure to provide reparations for victims of the armed conflict persist.

Oidhaco carries out advocacy activities aimed at the European Union, member- and other European states and the United Nations system, encouraging them to press the state to respect civil and political rights, end impunity and ensure the economic, social and cultural rights of the population. It also works to encourage them to recognise the organisational processes and efforts of indigenous, Afro-Colombian and peasant communities to defend their territories as legitimate.

Oidhaco recognises the fundamental role of Colombian civil society in the political, economic and social transformation of Colombia. For this reason it accompanies the efforts of non-governmental human rights organisations and social movements to promote human rights. Oidhaco carries out advocacy activities with the European Union, member- and other European states and the United Nations system, encouraging them to apply pressure so that the Colombian state guarantees that it is possible in Colombia to defend human rights in safety.