July 18th, 2022. Bogotá D.C.
Representatives of international organizations and Government officials from African countries recognized the reincorporation and reintegration processes led by the Agencia para la Reincorporación y la Normalización (ARN, from its name in Spanish, Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization). According to experts, the Colombian model has valuable elements to be replicated in other countries in conflict.
According to the highest representative of the DDR section of the Department of Peace Operations (DPO), Thomas Kontogeorgos, Colombia makes a great contribution to the world in terms of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration, especially in the areas of community work, public-private coordination, prevention of recruitment and productivity for the economic sustainability of ex-combatants.
The presentation of experiences in Bogota, Cali, Caldono and Cajibío, were in charge of the ARN team and the ex-combatant population in the process, who told their stories on their way to legality. This visit took place within the framework of the 18th version of the Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Training Group (IDDRTG) Annual Meeting.
The national government has been part of the Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Training Group (IDDRTG) through the ARN since 2019. The country was elected co-chair of the group for the period 2021 - 2023.
“Colombia makes a great contribution to the world in the area of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration, especially in the areas of community work, public-private coordination, prevention of recruitment and productivity for the economic sustainability of ex-combatants", This was one of the statements made by the top representative of the DDR section of the Department of Peace Operations (DPO), Thomas Kontogeorgos, after visiting Mundo Maderas, the company founded in 2010 by ex-combatants of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia), who were initially supported with financial resources from the ARN, private and international allies.
Mundo Maderas was just one of the projects visited by the delegation of 26 experts representing international organizations, academics, and government officials from countries such as Cameroon, Nigeria andNiger.
The delegates arrived in Colombia as part of the 18th Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Training Group (IDDRTG) Annual Meeting, which Colombia hosted. The purpose was to learn first-hand about the reincorporation and reintegration processes led by the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN) and to be able to contribute to the Integrated DDR standards.
During six days, experiences were shared from the territories of Valle del Cauca, Cauca, and Bogotá, through the life stories of ex-combatants, the visit to productive projects such as the Multiactive Cooperative Ecomun Esperanza del Pueblo (Coomeep) in El Pital and the Technological Park of Coffee Innovation, Tecnicafé, key in the consolidation of the National Coffee Board for the strengthening of 30 associative organizations led by ex-combatants.
Eva Grosman, CEO of the Center for Democracy and Peacebuilding, said that “It has been beautiful to see all that the ARN has done and achieved; on many occasions I have shed tears in my eyes when I have seen the progress of the process, how people have been reincorporated into civilian life and how fundamental entrepreneurship has been in the transition to legality" and added “Colombia has been an example of a best practice for sharing in the world".
And since 2019 the country has been a permanent member of the Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Training Group (IDDRTG), and in 2021 was elected as co-chair 2021 - 2023. According to the Director General of the ARN, Andrés Stapper Segrera, the task of strengthening the processes and guaranteeing peace in the territories must continue “Today Colombia will continue to be an international benchmark, building peace with concrete facts, whereby more than 70,000 ex-combatants have managed to advance in the construction of new life projects in legality and more than 9,500 people in reincorporation are now entrepreneurs and businessmen".
The reintegration and reincorporation processes in Colombia have had a comprehensive approach, the commitment to reintegration implied building a long-term process, focused on overcoming poverty to help ex-members to face a new future by generating bonds of trust with the State. According to the results presented during the Meeting, life expectancy increased by 28 years, thanks to the generation of learning with the communities and actions for the prevention of recruitment by armed actors.
In terms of reincorporation, the agency designed a regulatory framework: laws and decrees to establish clear principles, strengthen dialogue and planning, and create a road map with all the necessary guarantees to address the interests of the population, including: economic sustainability, accommodation and housing, family care, health, community work, education and comprehensive psychosocial welfare. To date, 12,800 people are moving forward in the process.
“I cannot believe that a country like Colombia that has been in this conflict for many years has come together as a country to achieve reintegration and reincorporation. What touched my heart the most was the coordinated response between civil society, government, private sector, international community, and the local population itself; everyone cooperating, joining together, determined, making efforts to ensure peace is restored", said Nana Safia Zakama, DDR consultant for the International Organization for Migration in Nigeria.
Highlights
In Colombia, 53,080 people have participated in the reintegration process, 4,195 are still undergoing it and more than 26,950 have completed the process.
12,800 people are advancing in the reincorporation process; this is implemented in more than 578 municipalities; the policy has been included in more than 276 municipal territorial plans and in more than 31 departmental development plans.
4,486 productive projects have enabled 9,213 FARC-EP ex-combatants to become entrepreneurs and businessmen, with investments of more than $88,992 Colombian Pesos million from the government and international cooperation agencies.
Approximately 241 private sector actors and 76 international organizations have contributed to the development of projects in Colombia to further the implementation of the reincorporation process.