COLOMBIA:
Local Candidates Sign
Agreement with Civil
Society in Slum
By Helda Martínez*
SOACHA, Colombia,
(IPS) - In Soacha, a
violence-wracked slum on
the outskirts of the
Colombian capital, civil
society groups persuaded
six of the eight
candidates for mayor of
the municipality to sign
an agreement on
governance and
transparency, ahead of
the Oct. 28 local and
regional elections.
Soacha’s cramped shacks
are home to tens of
thousands of Colombians
displaced by the
country’s decades old
civil war. But when they
arrive here, they find
they have not escaped
human rights violations
and violence, while they
are also plagued by high
levels of unemployment,
pollution, corruption,
and a lack of basic
utilities like piped
water and electricity.
But despite the threats
faced by activists, the
Mesa Humanitaria y
Social, a network of
governmental and social
organisations in Soacha,
drew up a 20-point
agreement to be honoured
by whoever is elected
mayor in October.
The idea is to work on
aspects like the
transparent use of
public funds, democratic
participation in the
design and
implementation of a
municipal development
plan, the creation of
spaces for the peaceful
resolution of conflicts,
and the creation of
oversight and follow-up
committees.
Solutions to problems
faced in the
municipality should be
reached "through ongoing
dialogue and the
implementation of
actions coordinated by
the municipal
administration, the
public prosecutor’s
office and civil
society, with
international
cooperation," says the
agreement.
It was signed last week
by candidates José
Martínez of the Liberal
Party, Manuel Suescún of
the Indigenous Social
Alliance, Ángela Donoso
of Democratic Colombia,
Fernando Ramírez of
Radical Change and Juan
Carlos Nemocón of Alas
Equipo Colombia (Wings
Team Colombia).
The candidate for the
leftist Alternative
Democratic Pole, Oswaldo
Córdoba, excused himself
and sent a
representative of his
party instead, and the
candidates of the
Conservative Party and
the pro-government
Citizen Convergence
party did not attend the
signing ceremony.
The agreement also
states that the new
administration will
"foment the presence of
industries with social
responsibility,"
strengthen the
functioning of the Human
Rights Committee,
increase transparency,
and expand assistance
programmes for children
and young people.
Signing the agreement as
witnesses were Bruno
Moro, the resident
United Nations
representative in
Colombia; Merete Hansen,
country director for the
Norwegian Refugee
Council; Bishop Daniel
Caro of the diocese of
Soacha; Mauricio Vesga,
ombudsman for the region
of Cundinamarca, where
the municipality is
located; and Fernando
Enciso of the Colombian
Federation of
Municipalities.
Two years ago, the
complexity of problems
in Soacha prompted the
creation of the Mesa
Humanitaria y Social, a
network made up of 40
governmental,
non-governmental,
community and private
bodies, as well as the
Catholic Church.
The Mesa is subdivided
into working areas on
youth, health, economic
transition and
education, and has the
support of 13 U.N.
agencies and the
international NGOs
Diakonia, Norwegian
Refugee Council and
Medecins sans Frontieres/Doctors
Without Borders.
The insecurity
especially affects young
people in Soacha, who
are frequently the
targets of selective
killings by illegal
armed groups present in
the neighbourhood.
"Three years ago we
experienced a difficult
period, during which 120
young people were
killed. Most of them
were murdered by the
(far-right)
paramilitaries using
fear as a strategy to
prevent the situation
here from coming to
light, and to favour
impunity," a local
resident who asked not
to be identified told
IPS.
An agreement reached
with the government for
the paramilitary
militias to demobilise
has eased the crisis, he
said. "But we know that
serious incidents
happened again two or
three weeks ago. In
election time, the
situation gets worse,
which is why we have to
be more careful."
Killings are a problem,
as is forced or
semi-forced recruitment,
with young people drawn
into armed groups due to
the lack of educational
or employment
opportunities.
According to statistics
from the Mesa
Humanitaria, based
partly on a survey that
was carried out, the
average number of formal
school years in the
municipality is 5.3
years, and only 1.4
percent of local
residents have completed
one year or more of
secondary school.
Unemployment stands at
20 percent, and 52
percent of the employed
have no formal labour
contract. While the
minimum monthly salary
in Colombia is 217
dollars, the average
monthly income of
workers in Soacha is 96
dollars.
More than 74 percent of
local residents have no
sanitation and only 12.4
percent have piped
water. Most people
depend on rubber hoses
that run along the dusty
paths that serve as
streets, and which are
filled by water trucks
once a week. The hoses
run into small water
tanks sitting atop
nearly every house.
In addition, 56 percent
of families live in
areas at high risk of
landslides or collapse,
because of mining
operations or due to
their location in
mountainous areas unfit
for construction.
To that is added the
insecurity and crime,
seen as a pressing
problem by 44 percent of
those surveyed, and
widespread mistrust of
the neighbours, which 68
percent of respondents
said they felt.
According to the
statistics compiled by
the Mesa Humanitaria,
17.5 percent of
households in the
municipality have been
affected by forced
displacement.
The National Department
of Statistics (DANE)
reported a radical
increase in the local
population, from 170,000
people in 1990 to
400,000 in 2005. From
1993 to 2003, the local
population grew 4.8
percent, compared to a
national average of 1.7
percent, DANE statistics
show.
By 2003, Soacha was the
14th most populous
municipality in the
country.
"Six or seven displaced
families arrive in
Soacha every day," José
Figuereido, the
municipal official in
charge of human rights
questions, told IPS.
The coordinator of the
United Nations
Development Programme’s
(UNDP) local development
and peace programme,
Marta Ruiz, told IPS
that "it is difficult to
confirm with precision
the statistics because
many displaced people do
not register with any
institution or
government body. But it
is true that a large
number of people arrive
on a daily basis."
Many of the displaced
end up in two specific
areas of Soacha, Ruiz
pointed out. "In those
two districts, there are
displaced people from 25
of the country’s 32
departments (provinces),
especially Tolima (in
central Colombia) and
Meta (in the southeast),
as well as
afro-Colombians from the
western region along the
Pacific Ocean. The
displaced make up 12
percent of the local
inhabitants here."
Nicolás López, an
activist with the Mesa
Humanitaria’s working
group on youth, told IPS
that the first such
agreement was signed
three years ago, and
although "it was not
completely implemented,
it represented an
important step forward
for local development."
"Processes of change are
very slow, but we will
continue encouraging
them, with the
commitment as well as
the participation of the
local people of the
community," said López.
* With additional
reporting from Constanza
Vieira. |
