Backgrounder - Canada's support for peace implementation in Colombia

Backgrounder

Canada announced a total of $57.4 million in development funding for five initiatives that will support Colombia’s peace implementation efforts, protect the rights of children and youth affected by armed conflict and empower women as agents of peace.

Multi-Donor Trust Fund of the United Nations for Post-Conflict in Colombia

• $20 million over three years (2016 to 2019)
• Implementing partners: United Nations, Government of Colombia, civil society organizations

Canada’s contribution will help the Government of Colombia implement peace in the most conflict-affected parts of the country. The fund will support the Government of Colombia, UN agencies, and civil society organizations in providing essential services and building peace at the community level. It will also promote the empowerment of women and girls and their full participation in peacebuilding.

Landmine Action in Colombia

• $12.5 million over five years (2016 to 2021)
• Implementing partner: The HALO Trust

This project will survey and clear mines in up to 10 Colombian municipalities. It will benefit an estimated 27,000 mine-affected people living in some of Colombia’s poorest rural municipalities and facilitate the return of over 60,000 internally displaced people. It will also improve access to economic opportunities for local communities and ex-combatants, particularly women. It will help Colombia meet its commitments under the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (Ottawa Convention) banning mines to become mine-free by 2021.

Leading for Peace: Supporting the Rights of Children and Youth in Colombia

• $18.9 million over five years (2016 to 2021)
• Implementing partner: Plan International Canada

This project will help the Government of Colombia deliver protection and compensation services for victims of armed conflict in three municipalities (Tumaco, Quibdó and Buenaventura), benefiting over 84,000 children and youth and 56,000 women. It will help build the resilience of children and youth and ensure the full participation of girls in conflict-affected communities.

Support to the Agricultural Financial System

• $4.5 million over four years (2016 to 2020)
• Implementing partner: Développement international Desjardins

This $4.5-million increase in funding for a current project will help Colombian financial institutions develop microfinance and credit products adapted to the needs of rural communities affected by armed conflict. This project will train 3,000 rural women in financial literacy, ensuring that half of the project’s beneficiaries are women and youth in post-conflict communities.

Protecting Children’s Education in South-West Colombia

• $1.5 million over three years (2016 to 2019)
• Implementing partners: Save the Children, Norwegian Refugee Council

This $1.5-million increase in funding for a current project will provide access to education in the Colombian department of Caquetá, where educational services have been poor or non-existent because of the armed conflict. It will help reintegrate 1,500 out-of-school children (including 800 girls) into the school system and train 240 teachers and principals. It will improve overall quality of education for 6,500 students (including 3,575 girls).

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau Global Affairs Canada Government and Politics