Four of six pilot communities in Colombia that suffered years of
violence at the hands of illegal armed groups presented their plans
for collective reparation to their local governments.

Working with Colombia's National Commission for Reparation and
Reconciliation (CNRR), IOM designed the collective reparation
approach and worked with six pilot communities in the drafting of
each collective reparation plan.

Plans submitted by the communities of El Salado, Libertad and El
Tigre, as well as the 650-member strong Association of Peasant
Workers of Carare, include measures to guarantee that the violence,
intimidation and killing that they have suffered will not be
repeated; access to truth and justice; restitution and access to
their collective right to health, housing and education.

IOM Chief of Mission Marcelo Pisani said, "This is an historic
moment because collective reparation has not been carried out in
any other country with the depth and comprehensiveness as these
first four in Colombia. It was the communities themselves who
seized their right to reparation by designing specific measures as
a team according to their needs.  This is an opportunity for
regional governments to show their commitment to the victims."

Colombia's Justice and Peace Law of 2005 contemplates collective
reparation as one of the mechanisms for compensation to
victims.  To comply with this provision, IOM has been
supporting CNRR since 2007 with funding from the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID), in the process of
defining and implementing a national collective reparation
plan.

Since 2007, IOM has allocated USD 1.258 million of USAID
funding, including the rehabilitation or construction of basic
needs and infrastructure found lacking or destroyed in the six
pilot communities.  Once health, schools and food security
were in place, the communities were able to begin the drafting of
the collective reparation plans.

The first four pilot communities to present their collective
reparation plans have also proposed projects aimed at reactivating
the region's economy; rebuilding of public infrastructure,
including cultural and recreational spaces; and activities to honor
the historical memory.

An assessment is underway to identify the communities most
impacted by the violence of illegal armed groups.  Preliminary
findings identified 100 municipalities that have suffered severe
collective damage.   According to Colombian government
figures 332,000 persons have applied for individual reparation.

The official figure of internally displaced Colombians as of
March 31 of this year is 3,684,315.

The lessons learned in this process will be included in the
Institutional Collective Reparation Plan, which will serve as the
basis for national policy.  It will be submitted to the
national government in July, along with the six collective pilot
reparation plans.

For more information, please contact:

Jorge Gallo

IOM Bogota

Tel: +57 1 6397777, Ext 1219

E-mail: "mailto:jgallo@iom.int">jgallo@iom.int