IOM Director General William Lacy Swing arrives this weekend in
Colombia for his first official visit to the South American country
and to take part in an International Conference on Disarmament,
Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR).

Co-organized by IOM, the three-day conference starting Monday 4
May in the historic port city of Cartagena de Indias, brings
together for the first time more than 600 experts from
international organizations, academics, and civil society from more
than 20 countries.

Participants will share best practices in the field and discuss
the benefits of community-based reintegration processes as a more
viable strategy to achieve long-term success and
sustainability.

Director General Swing will take part in a panel focusing on the
role of community-based reintegration processes for security, peace
and development and will share final reflections and observations
on the subjects discussed during the conference.

Colombia's Presidential High Council for Reintegration, the
government agency in charge of managing the reintegration process
of the more than 45,000 ex-combatants that have been demobilized
individually or through negotiations with the State, is joint
organizer.

IOM, a leading international organization on DDR, and a partner
of the Colombian government in the current peace process, is
contributing financial and technical resources for the event.

The Director General will also meet various high-level
government officials and the international community in addition to
visiting IOM projects that provide support to the victims of
illegal armed groups and which help ex-combatant minors return to
civilian life.

In 2006, IOM began implementing its Community-Oriented
Reintegration Assistance Programme (Programa de Apoyo al Proceso de
Reincorporación con Enfoque Comunitario).  With funding
from the United Sates Agency for International Development (USAID),
the programme supports the government's Peace Process by helping
demobilized persons and their families to reintegrate into civilian
life, and victims to gain access to truth, justice and
compensation.  So far, 129 projects have been approved helping
some 60,000 people.

Since 1992, IOM has supported the design and implementation of
some of the largest of DDR operations in the world, including in
Mozambique, Haiti, Mali, Guatemala, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and
in 15 other countries.  These programmes have helped thousands
of ex-combatants and their families to return to civilian life,
contributing at the same time to the reconciliation and
stabilization of societies.

For more information, please contact:

Jorge Andrés Gallo

IOM Bogota

Tel. + 5715946410 Ext. 142

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