Colombia: Strengthening local capacities for peace-building in the Department of Nariño
Colombia's Nariño province is a region with a high prevalence of violence, poverty and unmet needs, and a concentration of illicit crops. This Joint Programme targeted municipalities on the Pacific Coast and in the Andean zone of the Department with the goal of promoting peace-building and development by strengthening democratic institutions, fostering civic participation and promoting coexistence and sustainable socio-economic development.
The programme's aim was to implement an innovative model for peace-building through an area-based approach and an explicit gender focus that could be replicated in other regions of the country. This was achieved through strategic initiatives for crisis and conflict prevention and management, strengthening the rule of law, restoring livelihoods and promoting socio-economic development.
The priority objectives were to:
- Consolidate capacities and local and regional assets for peace-building and development.
- Strengthen democratic institutions, civic participation and coexistence as well as sustainable socio-economic development.
- Incorporate an ethnic-cultural and gender approach as a necessary condition to achieving the MDGs.
Some of the achievements of the programme were:
- Local institutions and 50 victims’ organizations that implement public policy related to the prevention and care of victims of armed conflict were strengthened according to the current legislative framework, Law 1448/2011 on Victims and Land Restitution.
- The institutional, community and indigenous councils were strengthened to manage and transform conflicts. To achieve this, an ethnic, life cycle and gender approach was taken in the development, set-up and implementation of programmes on conflict transformation and crisis prevention.
- Food sovereignty initiatives were set up based on 18 models of production for food security and income generation, which benefitted 3,338 families from three ethnic communities.
- Leadership of indigenous and Afro-Colombian women was strengthened through the course "Gender Equality for Local and Regional Development."
- A departmental strategy was developed for the protection of the rights of children, adolescents and youth in contexts of conflict and associated violence.
- Exercises were developed to help in the recovery of traditional production practices and native seeds.
Click for more detailed results from the Joint Programmes in Colombia (in Spanish).