At the commemoration of the International Red Hand Day at the Presidential Palace led by the President of Colombia, Ivan Duque, the Director of the Unit for the Victims, Ramon Rodriguez, attended the XXIII Ordinary Session of the Intersectoral Commission for Recruitment Prevention, the Use and Sexual Violence against Boys, Girls and Teenagers by Organized Armed Groups and Organized Criminal Groups (CIPRUNNA in its Spanish acronym).
“This day is for the world to ponder, to always stand up against this behavior and, of course, to understand that we must continue to take structural steps as a society for the protection of boys, girls and teenagers,” said President Duque.
On the other hand, the Unit for the Victims’ Director gave a balance on armed conflict’s impact on boys, girls and teenagers. Furthermore, he highlighted the entity’s actions to combat and reduce this scourge.
“We have been coordinating actions with all the entities of the National System for Integral Attention and Reparation to Victims (SNARIV in its Spanish acronym) to encourage spaces for boys, girls and teenagers so they can be in safe environments. This helps us move forward on the reparation route and it also allows us to reduce the cases of this victimizing act,” stated the Unit for the Victims’ Director.
According to the Single Victims Registry (RUV in its Spanish acronym), there are 8.433 victims of illegal recruitment, being Antioquia, Meta, Caqueta, Cauca, Nariño and Choco the departments with more people affected by this fact.
“The Unit for the Victims has already compensated 37% of these cases, with an investment of more than $56.000 million COP. Since 2018, cases of use of boys, girls and teenagers in the conflict have decreased by 70%,” explained Ramon Rodriguez.
According to the figures, the Unit for the Victims has compensated 3.163 people through administrative and judicial channels, which equals an investment of $56.861 million COP destined to comply with this integral reparation measure.
Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic and using virtuality, the Unit has guided 2.176 boys, girls and teenagers who participated in the strategies “CRE-SER” and “Projectandonos”.
The Director pointed out: “It is President Duque’s commitment that this victimizing act is diminished and attended, mainly through the creation of protective environments that allow minors to build a better future.”
The session also worked as a stage to introduce the figures regarding the constitution of trust orders, a compensation measure for boys, girls and teenager victims, which contributes to their reparation and the improvement of their quality of life.
“We have been working on trust orders to guarantee the compensation of boys, girls and teenagers. We have 197 trust orders worth more than $4.000 million COP; these are on hold until the minors reach the age of majority so they can receive the income,” said Ramon Rodriguez.
The Ordinary Session, called upon by the Presidential Council for Human Rights, had the participation of the First Lady of the Nation, Maria Juliana Ruiz; the Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Union in Colombia, Patricia Llombart; and the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, amongst other authorities.
(FIN /CAP/COG/RAM)
