USAID/OTI Colombia Quarterly Report
January - March 2009
Program Description
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives' (OTI) Initial Governance Response Program (IGRP) assists the Government of Colombia (GOC) to stabilize areas recently recovered from insurgent forces by promoting government presence and responsiveness to local needs. OTI's main government partner is the Center for Coordination of Integrated Action (CCAI), which is part of the Office of the President and is responsible for coordinating the establishment of government services in 14 prioritized parts of the country. All OTI project activities are carried out in the name of Acción Social, the parent organization for CCAI. Through the promotion of Acción Social's presence, the program strengthens the credibility and legitimacy of the GOC in post-conflict areas; increases the willingness and capacity of communities to cooperate and interact with the GOC; and improves the GOC's capacity to respond to community-prioritized necessities, including efforts to increase economic opportunities, in a timely and credible manner.
Country Situation
Black March – March marked the one-year anniversary of the deaths of three members of the FARC secretariat, including founder Manuel Marulanda and second-in-command Raul Reyes. The FARC called for a "Black March" to commemorate the deaths and demonstrate its continued relevance after a year of setbacks that include the aforementioned deaths, the GOC's rescue of 15 high-value hostages in Operation Jacque, a continuing loss of territory, and increasing desertions.
There was an uptick in FARC activities throughout the country. The guerrillas burned trucks to enforce transportation stoppages in several departments, carried out acts of sabotage, and disseminated threatening pamphlets. Despite these activities, the FARC was not able to make any significant gains against the GOC. At the end of March, the government announced that it had captured 10 FARC members who were planning to assassinate Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos.
Hostage Releases – In February, the FARC released six high-value hostages, including former Meta governor Alan Jara, former Valle de Cauca congressman Sigifredo López, and four members of the armed forces. The release was facilitated through the efforts of the International Red Cross, the Government of Brazil, and Colombianos por la Paz, a group led by Senator Piedad Cordoba that has initiated a written dialogue with the FARC regarding a possible humanitarian accord. With these releases, the FARC no longer has any civilians among its high-value hostages. In March, the FARC sent a letter to Senator Cordoba implying that they would be willing to negotiate a "humanitarian agreement" for the remaining high-value military hostages without requesting a demilitarized zone in Pradera and Florida (Valle de Cauca). The overture marks a possible shift in the FARC's negotiating position.
Global Financial Crisis – The Colombian economy grew at a negative 0.7 percent rate in the fourth quarter of 2008, and overall growth for the year was only 2.6 percent. Prior to the release of these figures, the government had remained generally optimistic about Colombia's ability to weather the global economic crisis—projecting 3.5 percent growth for 2008 and confident of only slightly lower growth in 2009. With lowered economic expectations, economic issues are increasingly taking precedence. There are concerns that reduced revenues will constrain the government's ability to robustly pursue its countrywide efforts to fight illegal armed groups and that an economic slowdown could induce unemployed workers to turn to illegal activities.
OTI Highlights
A. Narrative Summary
During the quarter, implementation continued on the consolidation plan, which is the GOC's first-ever attempt to put into practice a sequenced and coordinated strategy in areas recovered from insurgents. The consolidation process begins as the government establishes a baseline of security in a region. These efforts are followed by voluntary and forced coca eradication and the establishment of police posts. As the area is further stabilized, civilian government social services, including a justice sector, are established.
OTI supported the GOC with its efforts to—
- implement a strategy to prevent youth recruitment by illegal armed groups;
- renew contracts of key civilian consolidation-plan staff;
- rehabilitate tertiary market roads;
- develop a perception survey that employs the "most significant change technique" to detect community perceptions of the GOC; and
- launch a formal communication strategy to promote values central to consolidating a state presence (i.e., legality, security, democracy, and participation).
The consolidation effort is continuing in Meta, as security and eradication efforts permit. The process is employing two complementary methodologies: one approach in secure areas and a second in less secure areas. In areas where security remains tenuous, the program depends heavily on consolidation plan staff for remote implementation and monitoring. This tactic has significantly expanded the program's and the GOC's civilian outreach in rural communities. On the other end of the consolidation process, programming is phased out when it is determined that an area has moved from "transitional" to "consolidated."
During the quarter, staff from the program's income-generating component presented an overview of methodology and lessons learned to Mission staff. The attendees concluded that support for small and productive quick-impact projects on behalf of the GOC represents an important and innovative tool that helps establish legal economic options immediately post-eradication. The methodology and lessons learned will be incorporated into the new Mission strategy as an alternative development (AD) activity.
The GOC inaugurated an office for the Montes de Maria Fusion Center in Cartagena with support from OTI. The office will be used to coordinate efforts between the military, the police, and civilian entities represented by CCAI. The consolidation team is working with local entities to enhance the strategic plan developed by a local consulting firm. The plan establishes a framework for the development and implementation of municipal-level operational plans that will prepare for the "dignified and secure" return of tens of thousands of montemarianos, residents who were displaced by violence during the late 1990s and the early 2000s. The program will provide technical assistance to the municipalities as they develop their local plans and will assist the GOC as it begins the consolidation process in the region.
B. Grants Activity Summary
During the first quarter of 2008, the program approved 69 new projects worth $4,032,645. Activities to date total $14 million on 433 grants.
Spending this quarter, with examples of recent activities, breaks down as follows:
- Technical Assistance (including assistance to CCAI): $1,442,500. Initiatives included staffing support for the consolidation plan and support for community workshops focusing on the values promoted by the communication strategy. The program also provided support for a perceptions survey and an office to house the Montes de Maria Fusion Center.
- Municipal Assembly Activities: $997,962. These activities encompassed the repair and rehabilitation of health posts, schools, and homes for the elderly as well as support for youth and cultural events.
- Income-generating Projects: $473,902. Projects continued to focus on primary production and on integrating producers into market chains. To combat a virus that has severely compromised cassava production, OTI has partnered with a local university to produce disease-free planting material that will be multiplied on-farm. Other projects focused on adding value to agricultural outputs with rice hullers and sugarcane presses. (Local demand for brown sugar from sugarcane is strong.)
- Repair of Tertiary Roads: $1,118,281. These roads are extremely important in linking farmers in isolated areas to markets.
C. Indicators of Success
Other sections of the U.S. Embassy and USAID/Colombia are shifting resources toward consolidation efforts in areas where OTI is working as a bridging mechanism to the new Mission strategy. In Montes de Maria, the USAID Democracy and Governance (DG) program is adjusting its current budget to provide technical assistance for the mayors, municipal staff, and councils of four target municipalities, which currently are legally prohibited from managing any funds. Strengthening the mayors' offices is crucial, given that they are expected to provide leadership during the development and implementation of the operational plans for key consolidation efforts in the region, including the process to facilitate returns. The Mission's AD team is in the process of finalizing an economic assessment that will be used for the design of the economic development component of the Mission's strategy in Montes de Maria.
During a strategy review session this quarter, field staff spoke enthusiastically of the cohesive power of OTI's small community-infrastructure and income-generating projects. Residents in the program's area of operation are, for the most part, "colonists" who came from other parts of the country, attracted to the region 10 to 30 years ago by the availability of unoccupied farmland and more recently by the financial incentives offered by coca cultivation. The small projects provide an opportunity for residents to come together and build the community cohesion necessary for development.
Regional and local government partners continue to demonstrate remarkable commitment to the consolidation plan. For example, the governor of Meta this quarter provided matching funding for the rehabilitation of tertiary roads. He has also committed $50,000 for the expansion of an OTI-supported training program for rural teachers. The training program is increasing the professional capacity of teachers, who are often the most visible face of government in rural areas, and strengthening the position of the schools as important vehicles for bringing the community together.
During the reporting period, a congressional delegation led by U.S. Congresswoman Nita Lowey visited the Montes de Maria Fusion Center, where she received a briefing by GOC staff involved in consolidation efforts. After the briefing, Rep. Lowey expressed her support for the GOC and U.S. Government-supported consolidation efforts.
Program Appraisal
The GOC's pilot consolidation effort in Meta is widely seen as the model to be replicated in other strategically important parts of the country. Confidence in the ability of the model to expand civilian presence, significantly decrease coca production, and marginalize associated illegal armed groups is confirmed by both the GOC and the U.S. Embassy, which are basing their new strategies on the pilot experience.
By exit date in mid-2010, the program expects that it will have helped the GOC to sufficiently institutionalize its presence in Meta, increased the capacity of local governments to develop and implement strategic consolidation plans, and served as a valuable bridging mechanism to USAID's new strategy focusing on consolidation efforts. The USAID Mission is working to incorporate much of the OTI operating model of flexibility and quick response into the Mission's strategy.
The Mission committed to funding both AD and DG objectives to continue support for complete implementation of the consolidation plan and provide a programming bridge in several parts of the country until the new Mission strategy is fully operational.
Next Steps/Immediate Priorities
Priorities for the next three months include the following:
- Continue working with GOC partners to implement the consolidation plan, focusing on mobilization of the GOC into the program area of operation as security and eradication permit;
- Continue providing technical assistance to the staff of the Montes de Maria Fusion Center as well as to the Municipal Committees for Attention to the Displaced as they develop municipal-level operational plans;
- Expand a regional program that increases the skills of teachers working in what are the equivalent of one-room school houses—the most common type of school in rural areas—and that reinforces the position of the schools as places that bring communities together;
- Acknowledge the first group of associations that have graduated from the OTI-supported income-generating activity program;
- Explore the possibilities of providing additional support to the government's initiative to resettle families living illegally in national parks in the consolidation zone;
- Support GOC efforts to develop an operational plan for consolidation in Bajo Cauca;
- Work with the CCAI coordinator for the departments of Tolima and Valle to come to agreement on OTI support activities in the region;
- Complete rehabilitation of a key stretch of road in Montes de Maria (The repairs will immediately boost the local economy, which is based on avocado production, as small-scale producers will be able to reach markets, which they have been unable to do for more than two years due to poor road conditions.); and
- Discuss handover processes with Mission leadership.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C.: Chris Maness, OTI/LAC Program Manager, (202) 712-4231, chmaness@usaid.gov.
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