Dealing with the past to consolidate peace in Colombia

laufendes projekt

BackroundThe Colombian peace process is an emblematic example of how long-running violent conflicts can be resolved through dialogue and negotiations.In the Peace Agreement with the FARC, Colombia requested Germany's help in overcoming the violent past, recognizing the rights of victims, designing spaces for dialogue and cooperation between state and civil society institutions.The peace process in Colombia faces major challenges, aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic: The complex implementation of the Agreement is progressing steadily but slowly, not least due to the lack of a solid political consensus.The institutions, created under the Peace Agreement, struggle for recognition and an adequate budget. New and old armed groups are trying to bring illicit economies (illicit crop production, gold mining) under their control. One of the consequences is an increase in violence against local peace activists, human rights defenders and people who surrendered their weapons.On behalf of the BMZ, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, through the "Consolidation of Peace in Colombia" program ProPaz II, strengthens the recognition of victims' rights, especially in the context of the implementation of the peace agreement with the FARC.Through our work, we make a sustainable contribution to goals 5 (Gender equality) and 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions) of the 2030 Agenda, as well as UN Security Council resolution 1325/2000 on women's participation in peace, security and crisis management processes.ObjectiveThe overall objective of the ProPaz II program is to strengthen the protection, promotion and guarantee of victims' rights at the national, regional and local levels. ProPaz II builds on the experience of the program "ProPaz I - Support for Peacebuilding in Colombia" (2015-2021) and is based on the development and targeting of already proven approaches to strengthen and protect the rights of victims in the implementation of peace policies and overcoming violent conflict.Special attention is paid to the specific needs of the beneficiary groups according to gender, ethnicity or age.MethodThe program works from the following fields:1. Participation of victims in Truth, Justice and Reparation processes. We want to contribute to improving the conditions for victims' participation in truth, justice and reparation processes, for example by offering psychosocial support or taking into account the needs of ethnic communities.2. Inter-institutional coordination and coordination. We support the improvement of inter-institutional coordination for the implementation of truth, justice and reparation measures between the Integral System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition (SIVJRNR) and the National System of Integral Reparation for Victims (SNARIV) in order to improve the protection and promotion of victims' rights.3. Innovation for dialogue within the framework of collective experiences of victims. With this component we plan to make available, at national and regional level, innovations and collective experiences on truth, justice, reparation to victims through the systematization of innovative experiences of multi-stakeholder, multi-level, intercultural and interethnic dialogue.Intended results• The SNARIV and SIVJRNR institutions are strengthened and can offer better advice to victims. This increases the number of victims participating in the processes.• Victims of the armed conflict can access comprehensive psychosocial support, protection measures and other services adapted to their needs.• Coordination mechanisms have been implemented for the protection, promotion and guarantee of victims' rights within the institutions of the SNARIV and SIVJRNR systems.• The population of the departments of Caquetá, Meta and Norte de Santander actively participates in the discussion of the Truth Commission's report.

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