Construyendo Comunidades de Paz

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Colombia has a historic opportunity to achieve lasting peace and stability, paving the way for ending poverty and sharingprosperity in the country. On 24 November 2016, Colombia (GoC) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army(FARC-EP) signed the Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace (referred to as the “PeaceAgreement” from now on). The Peace Agreement brings to an end over five decades of armed confrontation between the Colombia Stateand the FARC-EP and opens a significant window of opportunity for addressing some of the drivers of conflict through thedevelopment and social inclusion of Colombia’s areas that for decades have been disproportionately affected by poverty andprotracted conflict.In the context of Point 1.2.2 of the Peace Agreement (structural transformation of rural areas), in 2017 theGoC launched an ambitious, comprehensive and participatory process for developing a collective vision of territorial development inthe areas most affected by conflict, illicit economies and poverty. While the totality of rural communities are included in thispoint, the parties agreed to prioritize the poorest, most affected by conflict and illegal economies, and with weaker presence ofthe state. As a result, 170 municipalities were identified and clustered in 16 sub-regions, for which Development Programs with aTerritorial-Based Approach (Programas de Desarrollo con Enfoque Territorial -PDET) were formulated through participatoryprocess, detailed in Annex 1. Priorities identified by members of over 11,000 communities were progressively aggregated resultingAction Plans for Regional Transformation (Planes de Accion para la Transformacion Territorial -PATR). The PATRs aim to achieve thetransformation and territorial development of these communities, by making critical investments in the next 10 years in 8 pillars:i) land tenure formalization and land use planning; ii) rural iinfrastructure and irrigation;iii) rural health; iv) ruraleducation and early childhood; v) rural housing, water and sanitation; vi) economic reactivation and agricultural productivity;vii) nutrition; and viii) reconciliation, coexistence and peace.In addition to the PEDTs, the GoC is in the process of setting upStrategic Zones for Comprehensive Intervention (Zonas Estrategicas de Intervencion Integral - ZEII) targeting areas still affectedby conflict and illegal crops with unified, coordinated, inter-agency, sustained and comprehensive interventions for stabilizationGiven the overlap in prioritization criteria, out of the 33 pre-identified ZEIIs , 30 are within PDETs subregions. Annex 2 providessome details on the selection of ZEIIs and their overlap with PDET municipalities. The project will support a subset ofcommunities targeted by the PDET and/or ZEII processes to improve their access to services and economic opportunities byimplementing a subset of development priorities identified in the PATRs, using a Community Development Driven (CDD) approach.Specifically, the project will finance small and medium-scale subprojects including both rehabilitation and new infrastructure, tobe mostly implemented by community workers, with support from technical experts and in selected cases due to scale and complexity,of contractors. PATRs consider a wide range of investments that vary in complexity, cost, size and sustainability requirements.Certain kind of subprojects prioritized by the PATRs may be excluded from the project due to: i) size and complexity (i.e. largeirrigation systems, primary roads, etc.); ii) potential significant negative impacts (i.e. subprojects that may affectinternational waterways, dams, etc.), and iii) clear competency and resource availability by other national or development agency(i.e. substitution of illegal crops, etc.). A negative list of PATR subprojects that will not be financed will be developed duringproject preparation. Investment plans at the municipal and community level for targeted communities will be subtracted from subregional PARTs, constituting the starting point for the subsequent phasing of investments by communities. The specific process forphasing of subprojects in targeted communities will be defined during project preparation, following a “graduation” processing inwhich the complexity of subprojects increases overtime as capacities of communities to manage more complex interventions arestrengthened. Geographically, the project will focus on communities prioritized under the PDET process and/or under the StrategicZones for Comprehensive Investment (Zonas Estrategicas de Intervencion Integral -ZEII), given their strategic importance forstabilization. Annex 2 of the CN presents a map showing the geographic location of the PDET and ZEII areas. As security andstability conditions vary widely across PDET communities, a differentiated approach will be adopted according to security andstability conditions. It is anticipated that ZEII areas will require stronger support and more significant investments to break outfrom the cycle of conflict and underdevelopment in which they have remained for decades. In these communities, a sustained andintense engagement will be needed along the life of the project, including a more intense process of capacity building, largerinvestments in service delivery and economic opportunities, and stronger facilitation of community engagement. Other PDET areascould offer more favorable conditions for stability and development, areas in which a lighter process of capacity building andsmaller investments may suffice. The project will propose a methodology for the assessment of needs, including the classificationof the community as ZEII, as well as the presence of irregular armed actors and illegal economies. Project activities would takeplace at the Nacional, Municipal and Community levels, organized around four main components: Component 1. Strengthening ofNational, Municipal and Community Institutions for Community Implementation and Management, which includes investments in two mainsubcomponents: Subcomponent 1.1 Sustainable Community Implementation and Management Model, aiming to strengthen communityinstitutions to improve service delivery and economic opportunities; and Subcomponent 1.2: Structuring of PDET CDD Subprojects,aiming to support the ART’s core function of PDET sub-project structuring, focusing on sub-projects to be implemented following aCDD approach.Component 2. Financing of Subprojects identified under the PARTs: activities under this component will financecommunity-level basic infrastructure and livelihoods sub-projects identified under the PARTs for targeted municipalities. Inaddition, this component will also support income generating sub-projects identified under the PARTs and prioritized by the ARTalong value chains.Component 3: Enabling Conditions for Stabilization, which includes investments in two main subcomponents:Subcomponent 3.1: Land tenure formalization and dispute resolutions, aiming to carry out land tenure formalization activities inprioritized areas, and Subcomponent 3.2: Productive Public Goods, aiming to support inter-community shared infrastructure,including coordinated investments to unlock potential local value chains.Component 4: Implementation Support, Knowledge andLearning: activities under this component will support effective project management systems, knowledge and learning