Strengthening Peace in Colombia Frrth Quarter July - September 514-A-OO-01-00217-00 10M · OIM ._ .. _-----­.-­ '-'--"--" ' ,~- .... ------ ---~--­ STRENGTHENING PEACE IN COLOMBIA INDEX 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. _____________________________________________________ 3 1.1 Project Implementation _________________________________________________________________ 3 1.2 Program Design. _______________________________________________________________________ 3 1.3 Administrative and Financial._____________________________________________________________ 3 2. CONTEXT. _________________________________________________________________ 5 2.1 Armed Conflict ________________________________________________________________________ 5 2.2 Victims_______________________________________________________________________________ 6 2.3 Blue Helmets Supporting Return of Displaced Persons._______________________________________ 6 2.4 Peace initiatives of Civilian Resistance ____________________________________________________ 7 2.5 Paeces and Guambianos Indigenous Tribes ________________________________________________ 7 2.6 Women’s march _______________________________________________________________________ 7 2.7 Youth for Peace National Assembly _______________________________________________________ 7 3. PROGRAM STATUS _________________________________________________________ 8 3.1 Geographical Location of Strengthening Peace in Colombia Projects _______________________ 8 Map 1: Projects by Department ____________________________________________________________ 9 3.2 Project Advance by Component _______________________________________________________ 10 Map 2 : Geographic Location by Component _______________________________________________ 11 3.3 Case Studies on Development and Implementation of Peace Models_______________________ 12 3.3.1 Community Strengthening For Peace, Recovery And Conflict Resolution (Vallenpaz) _________ 12 3.3.2 Reconciliation Through Assistance For Victims Of Conflict In Magdalena Medio. _____________ 12 3.3.3 Educational And Economic Strengthening For Afro-Colombians. __________________________ 13 3.3.4 Support To The Activities Of The Popular Women’s Organization (OFP) ____________________ 13 3.3.5 Recovery Of Social Fabric And Agricultural Development In War-Torn Communities Of Cauca _ 14 3.4 Case -studies on Support to the GOC ___________________________________________________ 14 3.4.1 Center For Peaceful Co-Existence In Barrancabermeja __________________________________ 14 3.4.2 Center For Peaceful Co-Existence In San Vicente Del Caguán. ___________________________ 16 3.5 Case studies on Strengthening Civil Society Organizations _______________________________ 16 3.5.1 Strengthening Of The Colombian Confederation Of NGOs (CCONG) ______________________ 16 3.5.2 Media Professionalization, Research Project And Journalism Website. _____________________ 17 3.5.3 Construction Of A Gender-Focused Proposal For Peace Negotiations. _____________________ 18 3.5.4 Virtual Library And Research Center On Ethnic Minorities & Human Rights. _________________ 18 4. FINANCIAL DATA__________________________________________________________ 19 5. SIXTH QUARTER PLAN OF ACTION____________________________________________ 22 5.1 Support to the GOC to improve its participation in the peace process______________________ 22 5.1.1 Support the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace__________________________________ 22 5.1.2 Support Local Peace Commissioners _________________________________________________ 22 5.1.3 Support to the Ministry of Interior ____________________________________________________ 22 5.1.4 Construction and Socialization of Peaceful Co-existence Centers__________________________ 22 5.2 Assistance to victims and excluded groups_____________________________________________ 22 5.2.1 Continue to support peace initiatives of the victims of the conflict and those disabled in the war. 22 5.2.2 Support for the Office of the First Lady________________________________________________ 22 5.2.3 Support Development and Implementation of Peace Models______________________________ 22 5.3 Designing And Implementation Of Regional Peace Initiative Projects ______________________ 23 5.4 Rapid Response To Emerging Priorities. ________________________________________________ 23 6. ANNEXES ___________________________________________________________________ 24 2 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. This report describes the activities implemented and the financial status of the Program for Strengthening Peace in Colombia during the first quarter of the second year (July through September, 2002). This period also represents the first quarter of the recently approved twenty four month extension beginning in July 2002. During this reporting period $614,955 additional funds for sub-grants, in-kind contributions and contracts were obligated to approved projects furthering their impact throughout the country. Key achievements include the following: 1.1 Project Implementation v Support provided to 34 organizations (9 during this quarter) for the design/formulation of an equal number of projects that were submitted for joint USAID and IOM approval. v Activities carried out in 56 municipalities in 11 departments that directly and indirectly benefit some 89,541 and 265,968 persons, respectively. v Three regional and local NGOs (Shadai, FINDES and the Red de Mujeres Chocoanas) were strengthened through the sponsorship of peace initiatives and provision of technical assistance. v Eight new joint initiatives were launched with established NGOs and one government agency (Luis Carlos Galán Institute, FENACON, Hemera Foundation, VallenPaz, CCONG and Observatorio para la Paz / Confederation of Chambers of Commerce, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace). v Extensive coordination with 4 governmental agencies, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace (International Seminar on Reinsertion and the project “Human Memory”) and the municipalities of Barrancabermeja, San Vicente del Caguán and San Gil (negotiation of covenants and the construction of Peaceful Co-Existence Centers). 1.2 Program Design. v A mechanism was developed to respond to emerging priorities such as the Red de Mujeres Chocoanas Project that addresses the needs of women of Chocó after repeated attacks by the FARC and the founding of a Co-existence Center in San Gil. v The successful model of “Development and Peace” that was first tested with Vallenpaz is being replicated by two NGOs: Shadai and FINDES. Their target populations are women and Afro- Colombians at high risk of displacement. v The model Center for Peaceful Co-existence in Barrancabermeja will be replicated in 12 additional municipalities, including those prioritized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace (Monterrey, Department of Casanare and Arauquita, in the Department of Arauca). v A project card was prepared for USAID approval for each of the following four organizations: Fundación Hemera, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, Cauca Indigenous Regional Assembly and Luis Carlos Galán Institute. v Priority geographical areas were defined: Chocó/Antioquia, southern Colombia and Magdalena Medio. The following strategic areas were also approved: Reconciliation and Assistance to Victims and Excluded Groups, Support to the GOC to Improve its Participation in the Peace and Co- existence Efforts, Strengthening Civil Society Participation, and, Support for the Development and Implementation of Peace Models. 1.3 Administrative and Financial. v Total, cumulative program expenditures reached $1,968,830.41 by September 30, 2002. v Total obligations for approved projects totaled $3,161,825 with an average contribution of $92,994. Disbursements of $1,579,756 were made to approved projects, with a remainder of $1,582,0697of unliquidated obligations (pending receipt by IOM of activity and financial reports from sub-grantees and contractors). v Leveraging of significant counterpart funds with commitments totaling $6,802,857 or 54% of the total budget for approved projects. 3 v Contracting and orientation of a new Program Officer (a lawyer with a Masters in Public Policy and Administration). v Adjustments to the Project Monitoring Database and team training sessions on data entry. This report is organized as follows: Section II provides contextual information on the Colombian conflict, with special emphasis on its current tendency toward escalation, and on the proposals set forth by the newly elected President, Mr. Alvaro Uribe. The ongoing debate in civil society, academia and government provides interesting perspectives on themes relevant to the Strengthening Peace Program, including reinsertion strategies with the armed actors, Peace Initiatives and Civilian Resistance, Paeces and Guambianos Indigenous tribes, Women´s March and Youth for Peace National Assembly. In Section III, the portfolio of approved projects is analyzed by geographical location, component and with reference to the context in which these projects are being developed. In Section IV, financial implementation is detailed by budget line item and project; in the final section, Section V, a plan of action is outlined for the next quarter in light of the recent approval of a program extension. Descriptions and status reports of all ongoing projects and copies of photographs and visual materials produced under sponsored projects are included as Annexes 1 to 5. 4 2. CONTEXT. During this reporting period, Colombia witnessed the transition from the Pastrana