Your Excellency, Mr. Francisco Santos, Vice-President of Colombia,

Your Excellency, Mr. Frank Pearl, High Commissioner for Peace and Reintegration,

My distinguished colleague, Mr. Dmitry Titov, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General, and Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions,

Distinguished colleague, Mr. Marcelo Alvarez, Director of the Organization of American States Verification Mission in Colombia,

Distinguished Representatives of the Colombian Government, Diplomatic Corp, International Community, Civil Society, Experts and University Representatives, Members of the Press and Media:

My remarks today are divided into three sections. The first is related to disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and Colombia.

I. DDR and Colombia

It is a distinct honor and pleasure to be here in the historic city of Cartagena, on this, my first official visit to Colombia, host to the largest International Organization for Migration (IOM) programme among all those in more than 130 countries where IOM serves its Member States.

Allow me first and foremost to thank our host, Vice-President Santos, for the kind and generous invitation to attend this landmark gathering of nearly 1000 DDR experts and practitioners from more than 20 countries.

I would also thank and congratulate the High Commissioner for Peace and Reintegration, Mr. Frank Pearl, and all the colleagues in the Colombian Government, for the warm hospitality and expert organization of this very eminent Congress.

You know, it is entirely appropriate that we are gathered for the first International DDR Congress in Colombia, a country that has pioneered its own highly successful DDR model – a model, which has led since its inception in 2002, to the demobilization of nearly 48,000 persons – a significant number of these demobilized persons now reside here in Cartagena. Colombia has many lessons learned and best practices to share with the world. But if I understood it correctly, this International Congress will also provide a forum for South-South technical cooperation around the globe. IOM is proud to be a co-organizer of this event. In this regard, I am grateful to our Chief of Mission, Mr. José Ángel Oropeza, and his dedicated staff, for their cooperation and support of this initiative.

The second part of my remarks looks at IOM programmes in Colombia.

II. IOM and Colombia

We are very proud of its 54-year relationship with the Government and people of Colombia. As regards DDR, since 2001, we have worked hand-in-hand with local partners to implement a Community-Oriented Reintegration Assistance Programme --- so far helping some 60,000 participants --- demobilized personnel, their families, communities and of course victims -- through 129 projects. In this regard, we are grateful for the generous assistance received from USAID and the Netherlands.

These and other projects make-up an annual portfolio of some US$ 163 million dollars in IOM programmes in 2008.

Working with Government, non-governmental organizations and local communities, IOM initiatives provide assistance to IDPs, try to prevent the recruitment of children and youth by illegal armed groups, and they help advance victim’s reparations and reconciliation.

Other projects target poorer regions, rural, urban and remote populations, focusing on much-needed job and income generation opportunities. These projects are in addition to our more traditional activities, for example, counter-trafficking, labour migration, health and migration and policy and research.

It is important to note, from the very outset, the Government has been, and remains, firmly in the driver’s seat. Government leadership and ownership is manifest in the strong coordinating role exercised among implementing partners, just as it did during those important negotiations with paramilitaries to chart a new course towards peace and development. In addition, the Government of Colombia provides more than 90 percent of the financing of the DDR programme here --- some US$ 125 million dollars annually.

The third and final part of my presentation is focused on DDR and IOM.

III. DDR and IOM

To date, IOM has implemented DDR programmes in more than 35 post-conflict countries on all five continents over the past two decades from Cambodia to Croatia; and from Cote d’Ivoire to Colombia.

IOM, in its partnership with Colombia, pursues a comprehensive approach to DDR, one that addresses the needs of victims and communities, in addition to demobilized persons and their families. We do this through our Information Counseling and Referral Service (ICRS). It is a mechanism, which provides registration and information on demobilized persons as a base-line to plan and to implement reintegration assistance.

So, as we move forward with DDR progress in Colombia and elsewhere around the globe, five principles will continue to guide our engagements:

• First, Governments must lead. We will always link our operations to the Government’s strategy, vision and priorities.
• Second, continue to emphasize capacity-building to improve administration, financial management, planning and project design and implementation.
• Third, ensure to the maximum donor coordination, in order to avoid duplication and delays and to achieve maximum results.
• Fourth, to engage in labor-intensive community development projects that will produce jobs, reduce poverty, and advance reconciliation.
• And finally, ensuring that DDR is linked to victims´ access to justice, reparations and reconciliation. And here again, the new Colombian Justice and Peace Law is a model for the world.

No one actor can implement a comprehensive DDR programme. There is why we work in partnerships. All actors in society have a role in creating the conditions for peaceful co-existence:

• At the local level, NGOs and civil society can generate the community support for the process that will ensure sustainability.
• At the national level, it is government and private sector can create public-private partnerships to facilitate the process. For example, the private sector finances about 15 percent of Colombia’s DDR programme.
• At the international level, IOM is proud to work with the UN Inter-Agency Working Group on DDR (IAWG), bringing together 15 UN departments, agencies, funds and programmes to plan, develop and implement DDR programmes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I wish to reiterate my sincere appreciation to the Colombian Government and extend my best wishes to the distinguished participants of this Congress for their contributions over these three days together.

I can see that there is a great wealth of knowledge and experience assembled here and I am eager to hear and learn from you on how we can employ community-based reintegration processes as a viable strategy to achieve long-term stability.