USAID/OTI Colombia Field Report
Jan. 1 - Feb. 29, 2000
Program Description
Victor G. Ricardo, High Commissioner for Peace, and Rafael Reyes,
chief negotiator for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC), led a team of government and FARC officials on a 23 day tour
of Europe, including high-level meetings in Sweden, Norway, Spain,
France, the EU, Italy and the Vatican. The purpose of the visit was
to examine other social and economic models. The Government of
Colombia (GOC) also used the trip to explain the Plan Colombia to
European donors.
A group of over 300 displaced took over the Bogota headquarters
of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on December
14 to demand immediate government support for the nearly one million
displaced in Colombia. As of March 1, the issue remained unresolved.
On February 22, a groups of displaced stormed the headquarters of
the "Red de Solidaridad," the GOC agency responsible for
coordinating programs for internally displaced persons (IDPs).
The Clinton Administration formally submitted its $1.3 billion
supplemental request to Congress. The funding will support the
Government of Colombia's "Plan Colombia," and will
provide support for anti-narcotics, alternative development,
administration of justice and IDP programs.
The Pastrana administration has agreed to open a demilitarized
area for the National Liberation Army (ELN), the country's
second largest guerrilla group, in the Department of Bolivar,
despite opposition from the area's residents and paramilitary
groups. The area is being called a "meeting zone" (zona
del encuentro), where a national convention of the National
Liberation Army (ELN), civil society and the Government of Colombia
can meet and discuss the peace process.
The GOC and FARC have agreed that the reduction of the currently
high level of unemployment (20.9%) will be the first issue on the
negotiating agenda.
OTI Highlights
A. Summary
OTI has established a full-time Resident Coordinator position
in Bogota. The position was filled and the incumbent arrived on
March 1.
The takeover of ICRC headquarters by IDPs temporarily
suspended OTI's project coordination unit (PCU) in Bogota,
although the implementation of field grants was not affected.
The unit has established a temporary office in Bogota, outside
the headquarters.
OTI signed a grant agreement January 14 with Georgetown
University that will help the GOC and civil society establish
negotiating positions for each of the items on the GOC-FARC
negotiating table. Georgetown subcontracted with the Universidad
Javeriana to facilitate a series of workshops on such issues as
human rights, internal displacement, employment, political
participation, new economic models, land tenure and agrarian
reform, and the environment.
Although OTI's "Peace Fund" program managed
by the ICRC focuses on rural communities affected by violence,
the program has been used to establish new models for addressing
the needs of the displaced in peri-urban areas. Two new centers
for the displaced were built outside Bogota and Cartagena to
provide a range of services, from day-care and pre-school to
adult literacy and documentation.
The Salesian Mission has submitted a request to OTI and the
USAID Mission to fund a nation-wide program that provides
scholarships to children who are particularly vulnerable to
forced or voluntary recruitment into guerrilla or paramilitary
forces. This program will expand a successful pilot activity in
the area of Ariari, outside the demilitarized zone, where
recruitment of child soldiers is particularly severe. The
program will be managed by the Salesians, the Episcopal
Conference, and the Society of Religious
Communities.
B. Grants Activity Summary
Salesian Mission: An additional 22 small productive projects were
approved that provide new sources of income to displaced families. A
new social project will fund a community brick building factory in
Granada that will provide low cost building material for shelter
programs for the displaced in the Ariari region.
OTI will provide $150,000 to help the Salesians create an
endowment fund for the Fundacion Ariari. The endowment, which will
be matched by the Salesians and private foundations, will sustain
the scholarship program beyond SEED funding.
ICRC Peace Fund: As a result of the takeover of ICRC headquarters
by the displaced, the last Coordinating Committee to approve new
grants was postponed until March. Approved grants are being
implemented and new grants are being identified by the ICRC
PCU.
C. Coordination
OTI and ICRC discussed future funding of OTI's Peace Fund
that will be targeted at displaced in peri-urban areas. The Swiss
have agreed to provide additional funding for the program.
OTI will collaborate with OFDA and the USAID Mission to help
coordinate a strategy for assisting the internally displaced in
Colombia.
Next Steps/Immediate Priorities
A grant amendment providing a no-cost extension for the ICRC
Peace Fund project will be signed by the end of March.
OTI anticipates approval of the Salesian National Scholarship
proposal with OTI and USAID Mission funding by the end of March.
|
