In a hearing called by the Monitoring Commission of the House of Representatives, the spokespersons of the participation tables, representatives and 22 mayors of this department were heard.

Within the framework of the fifth participatory exercise carried out in Cundinamarca and led by the House of Representatives, through the Commission for Follow-up and Monitoring of Law 1448, the Victims Unit addressed the concerns raised by 22 mayors, representatives of the Public Ministry and especially from people affected by the conflict.

Issues such as articulation for housing projects, self-sustaining productive projects, and health and education requirements were raised on a recurring basis during the conference.

Daniel Rendón, coordinator of the Departmental Table for Victims of Cundinamarca, said that “we are going step by step and the intention is to reach all the municipalities of the department, we need better connectivity in some territories, but I consider that it is a very interesting exercise that we it can allow the strengthening of the partition of the victims from the local to the high government”.

The session had the virtual presence of 22 mayors and representatives of the Victims' tables, as well as the Regional Ombudsman, the Secretary of Government of Cundinamarca and delegates of the other entities of the national and territorial order that are part of the SNARIV. Each local president presented a report on the inclusion of programs and projects for victims in Development Plans and Territorial Action Plans (PAT), in compliance with Law 1448.

Juan Manuel Lobo Beltrán, mayor of Guayabal de Síquima, stated that his government has three strategic lines, eight sectors and 25 goals that are associated and contribute to the adoption and fulfillment of the policy of care, assistance and comprehensive reparation for 382 people affected by the conflict in the municipality. "The budget we have is $ 202 million and taking into account that we are a sixth category municipality with just a general budget of $ 5.000 million, we believe that it is a percentage and interesting", said the president.

At the conclusion of the exercise, the president of the Commission, representative Jhon Jairo Hoyos García, explained that each concern must be addressed by the corresponding entity and that, in some processes, sectoral working groups are scheduled in which they will debate and find solutions to exposed problems. "We are going to put all the capacity of this Commission to accompany them and support them in the management, especially in productive projects, in expanding the budget for compensation and that all these points that we have found in our tour of Colombia are the basis for improve this Law 1448 as of next year, which is a great opportunity for victims to get out of the situation of vulnerability”, the representative stressed.

Cundinamarca has an official registry of 153.817 people who suffered the rigors of the conflict and of these 136.483 are the object of attention.  

(End/WPG/CMC/LMY)