PRESS RELEASE.
Second Resilience Week 2024.
A gathering to promote community resilience and safety in Colombia
• On November 20, a series of panel discussions will be held at the W Hotel in Bogotá to commemorate Resilience Week 2024.
• The first edition took place in November 2023 and provided recommendations to help newly elected local officials develop their Territorial Development Plans (PDT) and Comprehensive Plans for Security and Civic Coexistence (PISCC).
• The event will feature the Minister of the Interior, the Director of the National Police, the mayors of San Jacinto and Cáceres, as well as community leaders, who will discuss the challenges of public safety in these areas.
Bogotá, November 2024. The second edition of Resilience Week is here and will conclude with an in-person event on November 20 in Bogotá, where communities, leaders, and officials committed to a peaceful country will share experiences and recommendations regarding the challenges the country faces in terms of social cohesion and public safety.
This new edition also provides an opportunity to share, learn, and highlight the results of the “We Are Community” initiative by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which over the past four years has worked in 35 municipalities across the country affected by the conflict. In partnership with local authorities, communities, and national agencies, the initiative has developed crime and violence prevention initiatives designed to strengthen community resilience.
For the second consecutive year, USAID and FUPAD, through Somos Comunidad and in partnership with El Espectador, are joining forces to bring this issue to the forefront before representatives of the national government, the private sector, local authorities, international cooperation actors, academia, the media, and opinion leaders, through a frank and thoughtful dialogue on the achievements made by Somos Comunidad in the areas of social cohesion and the strengthening of local security systems.
The event will be opened by Roberto Obando, Country Director of PADF Colombia, and Jeremiah Carew, Deputy Director of USAID Colombia, who will kick off a day filled with learning opportunities and shared experiences. Élber Gutiérrez, general producer at El Espectador, will join them to highlight one of the most significant new features of this second edition of Resilience Week 2024: Strengthening Citizen Security in Conflict-Affected Territories (PDET).
His remarks will be followed by two thematic panels that will allow various stakeholders to offer recommendations on the different challenges the country faces in terms of social cohesion and public safety, emphasizing the importance of developing strategies that are generated at the community level and involve institutional actors, as well as those that strengthen institutional capacities to engage with communities.
Panel I: “Community Protection Strategies in Areas Most Affected by Armed Conflict.” The panel will be moderated by Joshua Mitrotti, Director of Somos Comunidad. It will address the importance of establishing safety nets and collaborative mechanisms to ensure sustainable, long-term actions that form part of the implementation of crime and violence prevention policies in Colombia. The session will feature prominent panelists such as Juan Fernando Cristo, Minister of the Interior; Merly Viana Pérez, Mayor of San Jacinto (Bolívar); and Rosa Milena Urbina Enríquez, representative of the Awá Pialapí people.
Panel II. Moderated by Lucy Amparo Guzmán of Asomunicipios, the second panel will explore the achievements and challenges in implementing“police reform and local security plans in the areas most affected by the conflict.” The discussion will feature General William Salamanca, director of the National Police; Damiana María Monterrosa, mayor of Cáceres (Antioquia); Darlis Karina Rojas Parra, community leader from the municipality of Puerto Libertador (Córdoba); and Hugo Acero, former secretary of security for Bogotá, who will share lessons learned and future strategies in this area.
This event will take place at the W Hotel in Bogotá from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., where attendees will have the opportunity to hear about and share their experiences regarding public safety initiatives and peacebuilding, as well as enjoy an interactive audiovisual exhibition showcasing the voices and faces of those who are driving change in their communities.
About Us: We Are a Community
- "We Are Community" is an innovative initiative of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) designed to contribute to public safety and strengthen community resilience in the areas where it is implemented.
- Community resilience is understood as the combination of capabilities possessed by the state within a given territory and those developed by the community and its citizens, which enables the prevention, mitigation, or recovery from acts of violence in order to maintain adequate levels of civic coexistence.
- To achieve its mission, Somos Comunidad focuses on two main components: improving social cohesion and strengthening local security systems. Together and working in concert, these components help build community resilience in the areas most affected by the conflict.
- Over the past four years, Somos Comunidad has achieved significant results in vulnerable communities, strengthening public safety and social cohesion and promoting effective collaboration between citizens and national and local institutions.
- The key findings include:
– 126 civil society organizations received capacity-building support in organizational planning, safety concepts, and risk prevention, thereby increasing their involvement in the development and monitoring of public policies.
– According to the Organizational Performance Index (OPI), 52 social organizations have improved their performance by 88%.
– 33,000 people transformed their communities by actively participating in forums for dialogue and collaboration.
– Thirty-five oversight and participation bodies were established, including Municipal Youth Councils, Municipal Planning Councils, Prevention and Protection Subcommittees, and Committees for Victims of the Armed Conflict, among others.
– Seventy-two self-protection and safety models were developed to prevent and mitigate risk factors.
– 2 indigenous security teams and 1 Maroon security team, reinforced to prevent and mitigate risks.
– More than 3,260 police officers received training in public safety, crime prevention, and human rights to implement the new police service model nationwide.
– A total of 105 public policies were implemented, including 35 Territorial Development Plans, 35 PISCCs, and 23 Comprehensive Prevention and Protection Plans, which reflect the communities’ needs in terms of protection, safety, and community harmony.
– A PISCC module was developed and implemented within the Territorial Planning System (SisPT) of the National Planning Department (DNP) to facilitate the formulation and monitoring of PISCCs in Colombia’s 1,103 municipalities.
– Fifty-seven crime and violence prevention (CVP) initiatives were implemented and documented, reaching more than 4,354 people.
– More than 490 civil servants received training on gender and sexual diversity.
- These experiences will be shared with various partners and key stakeholders at the national level, with the aim of continuing to drive progress and adapt strategies for development and security in communities affected by the conflict.