Major progress of Ministry of Home Affairs

22 projects are progressing in this assembly, four of them went for President’s approval and 18 were important advances. Seven of these are in final debate and on the verge of becoming Republic Act.

The Minister of the Interior, Luis Fernando Velasco, highlighted that the Ministry became the “Ministry of the People” during the government of the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro.

Bogota DC, January 5, 2024

With progress in social reform passing through the Congress of the Republic, the implementation of the Social Dialogue Policy and the arrival of programs in the regions of the country, the Ministry of Interior closed in 2023.

In legislative affairs, Minister Luis Fernando Velasco pointed out that the process of social reform in Congress is moving at a good pace and highlighted the consensus that has been achieved with parliamentarians from different groups.

In the current assembly, 22 projects are progressing, 4 of them went for the President’s approval, and 18 had an important process. 7 of them are in final debate and on the verge of becoming Republic Act.

“No social reforms were sunk and no counter-reforms or projects detrimental to the government were allowed in this legislative period,” the minister highlighted.

He added that “We recently approved the education reform in the first commission of the chamber, and there is a special fact and that is that the vote was unanimous. That is, 34 representatives, including the representatives of the parties declared in opposition, supported the reform. “It is a An indication that we are on the right track and that is a good message for the country.”

Health reform, which is ready for debate in the Senate of the Republic, has advanced in its process; The approval of the pension reform and the start of the discussion and vote on the labor reform in the Seventh Commission of the House of Representatives, which already has a positive vote from the commission for the majority presentation and approved 16 articles.

“All reforms are being debated, a few months ago many considered some initiatives as dead and what we see today is that all projects of national government interest are in very good shape,” the minister said.

He emphasized the importance of the approval of the draft statutory law on agricultural jurisdiction in the plenary session of the Senate and the approval in the first round of the legislative act of Mesada 14.

He highlighted the President’s approval of the Penitentiary Food Bill and the approval in the first debate in the Sixth Commission of the House of Representatives of the project to create a digital security agency.

Social dialogue and programs for people

In social dialogue, the government’s priority of change, social mobilization processes increased, attending 730 social movements in 32 divisions of the country during 2023.

Because of these views there are 93 dialogue tables in 25 sections, 81 tables for signed agreements and commitments, and 12 spaces for casual dialogue.

In human rights, the Ministry of Interior managed to extend to more than 100% the coverage of the Comprehensive Security and Protection Program for Communities and Institutions in the territories included in Decree 660 of 2018.

For the first time, the Directorate provided technical assistance to more than a thousand organizations to participate in the Directorate’s Project Bank. More than 600 applications were received for this strategy, which seeks to provide protection and self-defense provisions for communities and organizations that respect and guarantee fundamental rights.

In the Directorate of Affairs for Black, Afro-Colombian, Rizals and Palenqueras Communities, a Special Fund for Educational Credit for Black Communities (FECECN) was created.

In October, 24 billion pesos were transferred to FECECN (a fund managed by ICETEX) with the aim of increasing the number of beneficiaries.

In this directorate’s project bank, 55 billion pesos were allocated to finance 220 initiatives in black communities.

Through the Bank of Interreligious Initiatives, the Ministry of Home Affairs has financed 48 projects promoted by religious organizations and their institutions in more than 20 divisions of the country.

The sector benefited from the expansion of the authority of religious institutions to sign agreements and contracts with public institutions to develop social programs, in addition to being able to celebrate marriages with civil effects and other social forces.

Along with the National Fund for Civil Security and Coexistence (Fonsecon), resources were approved for the National Army and National Navy projects, which will allow work to improve security and emergency response in various locations in the country.

For the benefit of the communities in Coca, Minister Velasco inaugurated closed circuit television with 70 cameras, an investment of $5,482 million between the Ministry of the Interior and the Mayor’s Office of Santander de Quilichao.

The ministry highlighted its deployment to support the electoral process on October 29, for which four ad hoc governors and 32 representatives were appointed to oversee the day in various regions and territories.

“We closed on election day on October 29 with a positive balance. All polling stations in 1,104 municipalities, 12 districts and 32 divisions were open without any major problems,” Velasco said.

He assured that the Immediate Reception Unit for Electoral Transparency (URIEL) received more than eight thousand complaints from citizens regarding alleged irregularities and 1,308 questions corresponding to 205,479 ballot papers out of 36 were asked through the Permanent Electoral Single Window. Political parties.

The Ministry’s Community Action Group conducted a national popular communal assembly with the participation of over 4,500 community leaders to formulate public policy and communal CONPES.

The Ministry has adopted a binational approach to the protection and assistance of victims of human trafficking from Ecuador and Colombia, the first regional exercise that establishes compliance mechanisms so that both countries focus efforts on restoring the rights of victims of this scourge.

An international agreement worth more than 2 million euros was also signed to create a joint strategy and combat human trafficking.

A commitment to peace

In commitment to the peace agreement, the ‘Rights in hand: If there is hope, there is peace’ strategy was activated, which renewed regional monitoring and strengthening tools so that victims can better access their rights.

More than 700 boys, girls and youth victims of armed conflict in 12 divisions of the country have benefited from the Peace Goals strategy.

The Ministry has also achieved consolidation of the Managers for Life policy, with a clear group of around 700 associates distributed across 32 departments in the country.

(With information from Ministry of Home Affairs)

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