YouSaid · the spoken record

Lucía Ramírez

lines on the record: 103
first: 2021-07-13
most recent: 2022-07-14
sittings or episodes: 3
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“That is why we have the moral authority to insist in all multilateral forums that we must urge for and permanently advocate the defence of democracy. We also must tell the Council that on 7 August our Government will turn over a solid and stable democracy with solid institutions, a stable democracy with a solid and stable economy to our successors. It is essential that the Security Council assist the next Government so that this democratic, institutional and economic solidity is preserved, so that Colombia may continue to move towards true peace and peace with legality. I thank the Council very much indeed for the support it has given to our Government, and I thank its members for their always generous, friendly and sincere welcome extended to us in these meetings. The meeting rose at 12.25 p.m.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“In the text of our Political Constitution, it is stated that “Peace is a right and a mandatory duty”, which is the true purpose of our society. The road we are travelling, with the understanding and help of the Security Council, is set with the intention of making this fundamental right effective, without which we will not be able to achieve better conditions of coexistence. We must continue to move forward through truth in legality and the conviction that all of us have that through a better democracy we will achieve permanent peace for Colombia. Colombia is pleased to have presented this electoral result to the world, but more importantly we are pleased that we have given it to ourselves, with immediacy, transparency and absolute respect for the democratic decision of the Colombian people.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“As some Council members have pointed out, we Colombians have just elected a new Government, and of course, this new Administration must continue along the same path, strengthening institutions and the economy, providing legal guarantees and effective and efficient policies for all Colombians, supporting victims, doing the solid work of reincorporation and the voluntary substitution of illicit crops, which has been successful following four years of gigantic efforts in the development programmes with a territorial focus, comprehensive rural development, the process of humanitarian demining, and the implementation of cross-cutting perspectives not only of gender but also of ethnicity. Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities have a priority in this implementation.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“Likewise, it is timely to continue strengthening all gender measures in the planning of productive projects and in the statutes of the different associative forms. We may have differences in some of the data or figures reported, as reflected, for example, in comparisons of figures between time periods that are not comparable. But beyond any differences, we have the total conviction that comes with the commitment to unstintingly implementing the peace agreement so that we can truly fulfil all the commitments it contains, including, of course, the commitment to strengthening efforts aimed at peace, with the understanding that this work will remain forever part of Colombia’s future.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“The average progress in implementing gender equity is 56 per cent but let us remember that it has only been five years; we still have 10 more years to go. This 56 per cent is far higher than what was thought possible just four years ago. To promote significant participation of women in decision-making in organizations, it is necessary to continue raising awareness and providing training through different forms of partnership with cooperatives, which we have been prioritizing not only in the implementation of the agreement through Social Communal Economies, also known as ECOMUN, but also through our conviction that this is the way to lift rural communities out of poverty. It is through partnerships.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“In Cauca, Caldono and Caloto, all over Colombia we need women that have economic autonomy, because that is vital if we are to achieve greater levels of development, eradicate violence against women and, of course, eradicate the violence that prevails in various sectors of society. As part of the implementation of the peace agreement, we are working on various fronts to guarantee the gender equality enshrined in the agreement. There are 3,265 women included in the reincorporation process, and 80 per cent of them are linked to productive projects, which also include spaces for caregiving, so that they can be incorporated into productive life without sacrificing their duties as mothers. Of the 51 gender indicators, 26 per cent have already been completed, and 74 per cent have made significant progress.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“As we await the resolution of that appeal, we have put together a special action plan that ensures the necessary inter-institutional coordination and addresses on an ongoing basis all the points of the Court’s ruling. It involves also working in the long term with special police forces to improve conditions for the protection of all former combatants. Regarding women, I should refer to one of the issues that in my view is of the greatest value for the construction of a peaceful society: ensuring true gender equality. That involves guaranteeing the presence of women not only in politics but also, and especially, their presence in the economy. So I warmly welcome the fact that Jineth referred to the work of our Government to guarantee the economic empowerment of women.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“(spoke in Spanish) The support of the Security Council for the implementation of the agreement requires greater cooperation among all nations to prevent the consumption and, of course, the trafficking of drugs, and in targeting illicit financial assets that are hidden not only in rural but also urban areas in developed countries, and, of course, in less developed countries such as our own. On another front, on 27 January the Constitutional Court adopted a decision that has important repercussions on the security of former combatants. The Government filed an appeal against the judgment before the Court itself, which is currently being processed.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“Our presence on each square foot of our territory is just impossible. So any interpretation that there is a deliberate absence in some parts of the territory is unfair, as we know that it would also be absolutely unfair to assume that the deaths that occur in the schools or streets of large cities in developed countries, or the deaths of immigrants from Africa, occur as a result of indolence on the part of Governments. We know that that is unfair. All Governments have great challenges. Of course we have to improve State presence throughout the territory, hence the importance of sincere international cooperation, sharing democratic values and our experiences and the lessons learned from our own challenges.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“We carried out that extradition with conviction, but we also know that subsequently, actors with links to Otoniel waged armed violence affecting 178 municipalities, causing havoc for the civilian population and claiming the lives of 24 civilians, as well as countless attacks against our Government forces. (spoke in English) This is something I wrote while I was listening to some members, so I am going to read it out in English. Of course, the Government must put an end to violence against social leaders. Obviously, our Government rejects any type of violence against the civilian population or ex-combatants. No democratic Government can remain indifferent to civilians, military police or any citizen deaths. But let me say that Colombian territory is vast and its geography diverse and difficult.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“My Government would be in favour of that as well, as were many in the past, but for those negotiations to take place the ELN must halt not only abductions but also the recruitment of children, and Governments must insist that any negotiations that are undertaken in future plug the loophole that existed in previous talks with FARC and demand information on all drug-trafficking routes and logistics so that future violence can be prevented in our country. As such, we continue working every day through our military operations and through our police force to clamp down on drug trafficking. In recent military operations and the subsequent extradition of Otoniel, the leader of the Gulf Clan cartel, we could feel the support of the international community and of the United States.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“Colombia has been the primary victim of drug trafficking enterprises that are linked to transnational organized-crime networks, which are very powerful. For that reason, 30 years ago drug trafficking became the primary raison d’être of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and the Ejército de Liberación (ELN) in our country. Many have advocated that the next Government engage in negotiations with the ELN.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“Unfortunately, as we all know, the agreement did not guarantee the full identification of all drug trafficking routes or make it possible to deactivate the cartels that operate in Colombia, and of course in other countries allied with the Colombian cartels since before the signing of the agreement. For that reason, so long as drug trafficking continues, unfortunately, we must continue to live in the midst of and suffer death, bloodshed and much pain in Colombia. Once again we urge the international community to engage in greater cooperation in the prevention of drug trafficking and in targeting drug trafficking revenues through tax havens, real estate assets and other financial assets. For all our countries without exception, drug trafficking is a source of instability and a threat to our citizens.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“Regarding security, I would reiterate once again that for the Government and all the bodies of the Colombian State, the safety and security of former combatants and their families is and will remain a priority. The goal is for there to be zero threats against them and, of course, zero deaths of former combatants. We must reiterate that while we are doing everything necessary to develop the agreement, we should not delude ourselves into thinking that all other sources of violence are simply the result of non-compliance with the peace agreement or the result of Government indifference.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“It is therefore vital, as we have asked, that all investigations carried out by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace continue expeditiously and that all necessary decisions arising from them be taken. Father De Roux noted that it has not been possible in recent years to make progress towards what he termed a great peace. Such a great peace can be achieved on solid foundations not only of truth, as he said, but also of legality, which must go hand in hand with social progress, which our Government has pursued relentlessly through the creation of employment. We know that Colombians do not want paternalism or condescension; they want employment opportunities, which are vital to achieving that social peace, that peace with legality, that great peace.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“The Commission worked with the full support of the Government of Ivan Duque; it is a non-judicial body that discharged its time-bound mandate, which was focused on investigating the events that occurred up until the peace agreement was signed. His report should serve to provide clear answers to the victims, who have had to wait so many years in the face of the immutable silence of their aggressors. They now can know by whom, where and why their loved ones were abducted, and hope can be returned to thousands of Colombian families. That report has a key role to play in ensuring that all victims, without exception, from peasant families and from civil society, as well as businesspeople and military and police victims — all victims — have access to the restorative truth that must serve to ensure that these horrors never happen again.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“Undoubtedly, the visit of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in October 2021 meant recognition of the entire Colombian jurisdictional system in terms of the will, the institutional capacity and the resolve of our judges to comply with international standards, which guarantee respect for human rights and the effective and transparent application of justice. We have therefore managed to close that preliminary investigation, which lasted 17 years in the International Criminal Court. The quest for truth must continue and has taken a decisive step forward thanks to the Truth Commission and the leadership of Father De Roux, in his presentation made on 28 June at an event that without a doubt was hugely symbolic for our country.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“Ruiz Massieu mentioned, consultations are under way to determine the work, tasks and activities with reparation and restorative elements, which will be part of the restorative sentences. It is worth highlighting the recent adoption of the guidelines for the execution of the penalties and measures to contribute to reparation, which shows the importance of setting up a State institutional arrangement, mainly between the national Government and the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, while respecting the competences of all the entities.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“Today 98.9 per cent of those former combatants are covered by social security and health benefits. That is an unprecedented model in the world and is based on the approach implemented by the Council for Stabilization and Consolidation and the leadership of our President. Justice is essential. The guarantee of non-repetition clearly requires that the justice system, both ordinary and transitional, improve its efficiency and flexibility, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 16, which refers to fairer and more inclusive societies. In that regard, we welcome the progress that the transitional system has made in its various components. As the report mentions, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace has made progress in several of the major cases opened, and we therefore hope that it will soon hand down its first sentences. As Mr.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“For us, it is essential that such economic integration continue to progress, with economic guarantees for former combatants, issued by our Government in 2019, and increased resources to that end, already benefiting 13,263 people. In the area of housing, the Government has continued to increase investments in support of former combatants who remain in territorial consolidation areas in an allocation of housing subsidies for a total of 944 housing units. For those who are outside the territorial areas, access routes to housing alternatives have been established. Today 58 per cent of those in the reintegration process have access to primary, secondary and higher education, and 66.8 per cent of them have been linked to more than 6,500 training programmes for work.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“We recently learned of the recruitment of 82 children by members of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional and other armed actors in Colombia. With regard to socioeconomic reintegration, it has been a challenging process. There are more than 13,000 former combatants who continue to make progress in the various productive projects. Today we have 4,662 collective and individual projects, which link 9,412 people who are part of the reintegration — 7,018 men and 2,394 women — which, as Ms. Casso Piamba pointed out in her briefing, is very important. Those women, with their productive projects, are a source of livelihood for many families, but they are also a factor for stability in the territories.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“The priorities are clear: Colombia must continue to qualitatively improve conditions for the reintegration of former combatants, while strengthening both the ordinary and the transitional justice systems included in the agreement, to which end it is essential that the Special Jurisdiction for Peace present its conclusions as soon as possible and, of course, decide the consequences and penalties, but also, above all, the opening and prioritization of major cases concerning the recruitment of children and sexual violence in the armed conflict. As Father De Roux Rengifo said, the bodies of women cannot continue to be the battlefields of war for any armed actor, and neither can the recruitment of children continue unabated.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“I would like to mention that, for us, it is also a source of pride to have already handed over nearly half a million hectares of land to farming families, out of the 3 million mentioned in the agreement. During the past three months, both members of the military forces and former FARC combatants have participated in hearings to acknowledge responsibility for crimes committed during the conflict and to ask for forgiveness from the victims. That does not mean that we have achieved full reconciliation, since the other source of violence that continues to fuel crime and instability in the territories, namely, drug trafficking, remains present, but the progress made should not be overlooked or underestimated.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“Royalties will be allocated to those projects from non-conventional renewable energy and green-hydrogen projects, which our Government has prioritized, with national and foreign investments that have enabled a 100-fold increase in the existing capacity of non-conventional energy sources found at the beginning of our Government, and which will reach a 200-fold increase of that capacity by the end of 2023 thanks to the projects that this Government is already moving forward. Both those sources of royalties, as well as the national budget, should ensure the further implementation of the agreement and, of course, enable faster progress in all aspects related to the implementation.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“According to yesterday’s report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), it was also the leading economy where unemployment fell the most in the past four months out of the 38 OECD member countries. Colombia’s determination is clear: to overcome the conflict and irreversibly address the high levels of poverty and marginalization in some areas that clearly overlap with illicit crops. Not surprisingly, the 16 prioritized regions and the planning carried out with a territorial approach allowed for the development and completion of more than 1,400 infrastructure works and the design and planning of 3,354 new housing, transport, energy, aqueduct and drinking- water projects.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“We are at a juncture with the new Vice-President, and we carried out a decent, respectful, supportive process with great hope for her success in that office. We are also very proud of the fact that the implementation has not been suspended, but has advanced steadily despite the challenge of COVID-19, the disasters of climate change and, of course, the great concerns regarding price inflation throughout the world due to the most recent crisis. Amid such difficult circumstances, the Colombian economy was one of the fastest-growing economies in 2021, with a gross domestic product growth of 10.7 per cent, and the second-fastest growing economy in the first four months of this year.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“We feel proud that, as the Head of Mission said, Colombia elected a President for the second time — not for the first time, as was pointed out today — since the signing of the Final Agreement in 2016 in a transparent and free electoral process, which highlights the strength and stability of our democracy. The two final candidates in the second round committed to continuing the implementation of the agreement. Of course, as a woman, too, I feel tremendously proud that, for the first time, there will be an Afro-descendant Vice-Present — still not a President. However, I agree with the representative of Mexico that we hope that Colombia will have the opportunity to elect a female President very soon.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“Colombia can tell the world that peace and reconciliation are possible when an entire country demonstrates the necessary political will and determination, and especially when it can rely on the support of the international community. During the conflict our society was hard hit by terrorist violence, painful kidnappings, child recruitment — as was mentioned today — and sexual crimes against many women, as Father De Roux Rengifo described. But we are a society that has suffered so much that it is determined to move forward to strengthen its institutions and improve the conditions for economic growth, education and employment that can ensure a prosperous future for its children and young people of today and tomorrow.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“But the political party made up of the former FARC-EP, now known as the Comunes party, undoubtedly represents a success that all Colombians, and the nations within the multilateral system, especially the members of the Security Council, have engineered. We have reason to be proud and are thankful for that. At this point, no obstacle must be seen as insurmountable if Colombia is to continue advancing towards true and comprehensive peace with the rule of law. Of course, obstacles remain, and we must persevere in resolving every one of them. The implementation of the agreement has made steady progress, and both the Secretary-General and his Special Representative are therefore clearly optimistic in their respective report and briefing, as are we.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“We hope that the new Government will continue to move forward with similar economic growth indicators and to create jobs and additional budget resources that, as many Council members have emphasized, can accelerate the implementation of the agreement with the former Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP) and avoid the risk of any setbacks. Today Colombia is closer to peace than ever before, as we have witnessed the dismantling of the continent’s longest-standing guerrilla group, the surrender of weapons and the reintegration of most of its members into civilian life. I say “most”, because unfortunately we know that not all have been integrated into civilian life and many are currently involved in drug-trafficking based in Venezuela.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“The agreement signed in 2016, and the efforts of the Government as part of its policy of peace with legality, has demanded sensible planning with deliverable road maps and budgets, led by President Duque together with his former Counsellor for Stabilization and Consolidation, Emilio Archila, and the current Counsellor, Juan Carlos Vargas, who is here with me today. And I am grateful for the work of both Counsellors in terms of stabilizing, building and implementing peace in Colombia. Over the next 10 years, the deliverable budgets will undoubtedly need to be increased if we continue to maintain the extraordinary pace of growth that the Colombian economy has shown internationally over the past 18 months, with a view to generating more resources and additional jobs that can create dignified living conditions for every Colombian citizen.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“However, our Government maintained its commitment to implementing the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace despite the crisis caused by COVID-19. I want to emphasize the challenge that achieving peaceful coexistence has been. Colombia is not the only country in the world to have gone through a transitional justice process, involving addressing many difficulties related to years of social polarization, gaps and divisions that had gone unresolved thanks to institutional problems and the enormous challenges posed by illegal groups and their activities. But what is clear to everyone is that we are making undeniable and irreversible progress on a path that will lead us towards the fair, law-abiding, safe, inclusive, developed, equitable, solidarity-driven and peaceful society that we all long for.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“We know that the work of the Truth Commission is a great moral responsibility, involving, as it does, listening to the individual voices of victims and stakeholders. Lasting peace requires comprehensive, objective and impartial truth. We are grateful for Father De Roux’s efforts and those of the other members of the Commission in that regard. In April, speaking to the members of the Council, President Duque committed to ensuring that the stocktaking exercise of the past four years of his Government would not end today. On the contrary, our efforts will continue until the very last moment of our term. We know that what we were able to achieve over the past few months has brought much progress and many challenges while also dealing with completely unpredictable crises such as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“(spoke in Spanish) As you just said, Sir, Brazil’s presidency of the Security Council is very significant for us in the context of this highly important and symbolic meeting. I once again commend Jineth Casso Piamba on her outstanding briefing via video-teleconference, underscoring the bravery of so many women and the contribution they have made to peacebuilding in Colombia. Indigenous women, indeed all women, are critical to building a lasting and stable peace in our country. I also want to highlight the presence of Father De Roux Rengifo, President of the Truth Commission, whom we met with on 29 June to discuss the report he had just presented. At that meeting, President Duque and I were able to listen to the details of that important report and provide our own comments.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“We appreciate the sincere commitment to peace in Colombia, and the friendship and support that have been shown to our Ambassador, who like me is attending his last Security Council meeting in his current capacity in order to listen to the briefing by Carlos Ruiz Massieu, as Head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, for which the Council has approved our Government’s request for an extension, and for which I am grateful. I also want to thank Ambassador Fernandez De Soto Valderrama for his commitment and his extraordinary performance in his high-level diplomatic roles. He has honoured Colombian foreign policy not only as my predecessor as Minister for Foreign Affairs, but also as our current Ambassador to the United Nations.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“Let me say that it is very important to Colombia to express our gratitude all the members of the international community and of the Security Council for their commitment and support to Colombia in its quest for a true and stable peace, which requires a permanent commitment to the rule of law, as President Duque Márquez mentioned in the Security Council in April (see S/PV.9015), and of course to ending drug trafficking, which is a main driver of violence in Colombia.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“Ms. Lucía Ramírez (Colombia): I would like to thank you, Mr. President, and of course Secretary- General António Guterres. I would also like to thank Carlos Ruiz Massieu for his presentation of the report of the Secretary-General (S/2022/513). I am grateful to Ambassador Fernandez De Soto Valderrama and to Father De Roux Rengifo for his briefing, as well as to Alejandra Miller and Saul Alonso Franco, members of the Truth Commission. It has been a pleasure to see Ms. Jineth Casso Piamba, and I thank her for attesting to women’s commitment to peace in Colombia.”
2022-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9094 (2022) · source
“The entire country must continue to trust that the international community supports us, in particular with regard to the principle of shared responsibility required to combat drug trafficking, which continues to fuel violence throughout our country. I sincerely thank all members for their support and remarks. I also thank Mr. Carlos Ruiz Massieu for his work in Colombia. The meeting rose at 5.10 p.m.”
2021-10-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8879 (2021) · source
“We have lost hope; many families have lost their savings and their small businesses. We are now in a period of growth and recovery. We have just one goal — to create jobs. Those jobs will bridge gaps in Colombia. They will close regional gaps and enable us to achieve equality because peace must go hand in hand with equality. Progress in implementing the policy of peace with legality is the result of our Government’s political will and that of all parties that have supported the implementation process. It is also the result of the determination of the Colombian people who work every day in support of the rigorous implementation process, led by President Ivan Duque, while endorsing the progress already achieved.”
2021-10-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8879 (2021) · source
“Of course, we will continue our efforts every day to build peace in our country, with the support of the Verification Mission. Today, therefore, on behalf of President Iván Duque, we request that the mandate be extended for another year, from 31 October. I sincerely thank the United Kingdom, in its capacity as penholder, on this specific issue. Colombians are returning to economic growth after a very hard blow dealt by the pandemic. Many lives have been lost; the same occurred in several countries represented here. We extend condolences for the many lives that have been lost in each one of the countries represented here. Regrettably, we have lost many people in our own country — approximately 130,000. We have also lost considerable wealth. We have lost jobs and small and medium-sized enterprises.”
2021-10-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8879 (2021) · source
“The Government has made herculean efforts in that area. Nonetheless, challenges within the Congress remain. For that reason, I would like the progress made on implementation to be acknowledged, whether or not the agreement is approved. I sincerely thank all representatives for their comments, in particular the remarks by the representative of Ireland about the courage, perseverance and trust required to remain committed to a process of this kind. That is also in line with the remarks made by the representative of the United Kingdom at the start of his statement. Several processes fail before reaching the five-year mark. It is, for all of us, an inspiration and a reason to celebrate, given that we know that, for the past five years, we have made steady progress in this process.”
2021-10-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8879 (2021) · source
“The remaining 85 have recorded progress and developed work plans for 2021 and 2022. Some 66 of the 97 ethnic commitments will be implemented in the period 2026-2031. With respect to the gender approach, which several Council members have also mentioned, tomorrow marks the International Day for Rural Women. A total of 45 per cent of former women combatants already take part in productive projects that are scalable, profitable and sustainable. The Government provides technical assistance, as well as funding and support. The Mission’s verification work responds to a specific mandate from the Council. We note, for example, that the Government’s presentation to Congress of the Escazú Agreement as key legislation for the implementation process is completely unnecessary and, above all, outside the mandate.”
2021-10-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8879 (2021) · source
“As reintegration is guaranteed for all former combatants, we expect that when they move, they will relocate to areas where opportunities are accessible, regulated and operational and not to areas where they are more complicated. We request that the Mission support us in that objective. With regard to ethnic affairs and in response to comments from the representatives of various members, such as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, together with the three African members of the Security Council — Kenya, the Niger and Tunisia — I would like to inform the Council that, a week ago, in Cali, the capital of Valle del Cauca, the Government met with the agency tasked with reviewing ethnic issues pertaining to the implementation of the agreement and agreed on a work plan for next year. We have 97 ethnic indicators and 12 of them have been finalized.”
2021-10-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8879 (2021) · source
“Our Government will continue making the necessary investment, which, to date, amounts to $8.413 billion over the past two years. It demonstrates our genuine commitment in that area. In spite of the pandemic, the Government allocated the largest budget in history for victim care, at $263 million; the reintegration of former combatants — a much larger amount — and for municipalities that are most affected by poverty and violence, with more than $2.894 billion. With regard to new reintegration areas, I underscore that such statistics do not exist and that it would not help to create them. We must strengthen what already exists, in particular elements that are already part of the agreement and the mandate. We must take all the necessary steps towards normalcy, including by accepting the territorial planning system already in place.”
2021-10-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8879 (2021) · source
“I would like to make a few specific remarks about some issues that are not related to the three main aspects of the mandate outlined in the report (S/2021/824). With respect to the Government’s efforts every year to increase resources and funding allocated to peace, as I mentioned in my previous statement (see S/PV.8818), the total cost of that implementation is equivalent to almost two full years of Colombia’s gross domestic product. That, undoubtedly, exceeds the budgetary capacity of our nation and, I would imagine, of any nation represented in the Chamber today. Which country could allocate two whole years of its gross domestic product to implementing an agreement that would assist a large segment — albeit barely 10 per cent — of the population?”
2021-10-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8879 (2021) · source
“Our Government has respected the autonomy and independence of the bodies that comprise the Comprehensive System for Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition. That point was underscored by the representatives of Estonia and Norway, and, for us, judicial autonomy is crucial. The pandemic emerged and affected all Government entities. Funding allocated to the budget for the transitional justice system, the Truth Commission and the Search Unit for Missing Persons has been higher than that traditionally earmarked for the justice system. Funding allocated to those three entities totalled $132 million in 2020 and $151 million in 2021. That means that the Government of Iván Duque has allocated $278 million to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace. It is an unprecedented budget and level of investment that we must maintain.”
2021-10-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8879 (2021) · source
“However, to be quite frank, I must inform the Council that our entire country is the primary victim of a vile business, which, today, already processes part of the coca in laboratories in the most developed countries. It feeds on social vices and the financial business of money-laundering, which few countries dare to acknowledge or address with the required severity. In the fight against drug trafficking, our Government has invested $280 million to assist families taking part in the national illicit crop substitution programme in 56 municipalities. Interventions have been carried out to assist 99,000 families that have found an option that guarantees development and social and economic progress, within the confines of the law, in the regions most affected by the scourge of drug trafficking.”
2021-10-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8879 (2021) · source
“That is why it is so important to insist, once again, before the Security Council, on the need for the entire international community to genuinely assume its shared responsibility in the fight against the infamous drug business that has fuelled the FARC, the National Liberation Army and the many other groups I mentioned in Colombia and in so many other places across the world. Colombia reiterates its call for the shared undertaking of responsibility against drug trafficking because ours is a country that struggles every single day, with the tireless efforts and hard work of its 50 million inhabitants, to continue advancing and achieving peace.”
2021-10-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8879 (2021) · source
“We are doing everything in our power to achieve a true and lasting peace with legality alongside an economic development that generates quality jobs across all of Colombia, including in rural areas. It must be acknowledged that those groups that persist in drug trafficking activities are hindering the implementation of the peace agreement. They have attacked civilians, assassinated social leaders and killed dissidents and persons participating in crop substitution efforts.”
2021-10-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8879 (2021) · source
“The National Liberation Army, the Clan del Golfo, Los Pelusos, Los Caparros, Los Contadores and many others with different names already existed when the peace agreement was signed. Today they are still in the drug trafficking business, generating violence with the FARC dissidents who never entered the peace process. Therefore, the implementation of the peace agreement alone was not enough to achieve the stable and lasting peace that we all yearn for. Those who divert attention from the real causes of the violence by trying to attribute it to alleged failures on the part of our Government are mistaken. Not only have we achieved in three years that which had not even begun in the first two, we have gone above and beyond our commitments on several fronts of the agreement and will continue to do so.”
2021-10-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8879 (2021) · source