The Caldas Government held the first Transitional Justice Committee of the year with the presence of the representatives of victims, the Victims Unit, office secretaries, and entities that make up this space, in which the public policy for survivors of conflict is monitored.

During a virtual meeting chaired by the Governor of Caldas, Luis Carlos Velásquez Cardona, the actions in which the entity will affect the victim population were shown, the Committee's work schedule for the second semester was studied, the Plan was followed up of Territorial Action with initiatives that guarantee the rights of victims and the concept of security was approved to advance return and relocation processes.

“For us, the whole issue of victims, budget adjustment and security issues in the department is vital. I want to greet in a special way the coordinator of the table, Yesela SanMartín. This committee is being held in good time, so that we can analyze how our Government has implemented these victim programs on different lines; With the approval of the development plan, we began to execute the plans that we had planned from the beginning", said Governor Luis Carlos Velásquez.

During this space, each of the secretariats that make up the departmental Administration presented a report about the plans, programs and projects that will benefit victims in the areas of housing, health, productive projects, education, the agricultural system and rural development, employability, sports, among others.

"This Transitional Justice Committee is quite special for us since precisely these days are the nine years of the Victims Law, hopefully this is a very productive space in which we can achieve good agreements, we really hope that the population be taken into account and we can benefit the largest number of victims possible, we demand better spaces for participation, more housing programs, employability, health, individual and collective reparation for the community, always taking into account the differential approach”, argued Yesela SanMartín, coordinator of the Table of Victims of Caldas.

One of the most striking projects for victims will be the construction of prefabricated houses, an initiative co-financed between the Government, municipal administrations and the community through the labor force; This initiative is currently being carried out in the municipality of Palestina and it is hoped to be able to benefit the victim population throughout the rural territory of Caldas.

Laura Moreno, territorial director of the Victims Unit in Eje Cafetero, expressed that the delivery of compensation letters is already being made based on a contingency plan that came into operation this same week, and in which they will play a very important role the municipal offices through an inter-institutional effort; she also highlighted what will be done through community social infrastructure projects for the returned population, with the municipal administrations of La Dorada, Marquetalia, Norcasia, Pennsylvania, Samaná and Manizales.

Diana Ludivia Cardona, Freddy Machado and Luis Arbey Gañán Gañán (delegate for the indigenous victim population), were other representatives of victims before the committee, they demanded more economic resources for the programs to be developed, productive projects and agreements with the tables municipal victims to make joint decisions.

Finally, the Committee approved the concept of security for the department, which is made up of 27 municipalities and which is empowered to comply with the processes of return and relocation of victims. According to the National Information Network, in the department of Caldas there are currently 97.246 victims of armed conflict.

(End/EHB/LMY)