U.S. Supports Memorandum of Understanding to help 1,400 IDPs in Valle del Cauca Department

Bogota, May 13, 2010

The Colombian National Federation of Coffee Growers and the Valle del Cauca Departmental Committee of Coffee Growers signed today a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This MoU seeks to contribute to the social and economic stability of 350 displaced families, as well as host and vulnerable communities inhabiting rural areas around the 27 municipalities of the Valle del Cauca Department. The signing is part of the Assistance to People Displaced by Violence and Vulnerable Groups Program, financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The total cost of the project is COP $5.2 billion pesos, of which USAID contributed close to COP $2 billion, and the other donor more than three billion Colombian pesos.

The MoU was signed by Hector Fabio Cuellar, Executive Director for the Valle del Cauca Departmental Committee of Coffee Growers, and Jose Angel Oropeza, Head of the IOM Mission in Colombia, with the presence of Ken Yamashita, director for USAID/Colombia.

This project is expected to benefit 1,400 people: 980 of them Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and 420 part of host communities. The project seeks to obtain and maintain rural employment by linking 200 heads of households to an enhancement program that seeks to provide plans for the self-employment of 150 rural youngsters and their families from coffee cultivation.

The Colombian National Federation of Coffee Growers will provide technical and social support, as well as identification card issuing assistance and credit opportunities along the process.

The project also includes the following components: the installation of 150 plots of land with crops such as beans, corn, citrus, avocado and plantain to maintain the food security of beneficiaries; social support for articulating the social and economic recovery process; and the return of beneficiaries back to civilian life, through activities focused on universal values such as gender equality, teamwork and family integration. Health services and psycho-social counseling will also be provided. Additionally, 350 people will be trained in sustainable environmental and production practices to carry out the tasks of road-maintenance and planting organic coffees. Governance will be supported to ensure the sustainability of rural employment and affixed to the municipalities in the construction and implementation of community road development plans. Finally, 30 organizations will be strengthened, including community action boards, IDP associations, neighborhood associations, producers' associations, among others.