Currently, the Victims Unit has an agreement with the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá and ICETEX, through which young victims of conflict can access free higher education programs, as announced by the director of the entity, Ramón Rodríguez Andrade.
“The Higher Education Fund of Unit allows victims to access higher education of free choice of careers and in all educational institutions nationwide. Especially in Bogotá, this agreement has allowed us to have 907 beneficiaries, of which 97 have already finished their careers and are in the process of cancellation, meaning that these young people who are benefited, will not have to cancel anything”, said Ramón Rodríguez.
Once they finish higher education, these young people are helped and located by the Victims Unit in a workplace. “We do not want to stay only in that they finished the university career, if not that we created a bank of resumes which we do know in all the entities of the district, to the ministries, to the entities that are part of the Snariv and also with the operators that work with the Unit “, added the director of the entity.
Thanks to the accompaniment and the different efforts made by the entity “today we managed to link a percentage of these young people, and what we want for them is to continue advancing, access a benefit with this educational credit that is forgivable, but additional to that they have a job opportunity to keep them advanced in their studies”, he added.
Similarly, Ramón Rodríguez also noted that “I had the opportunity to meet 11 young people who are linked with the operator, they told me their life story, who studied, why they are linked with this operator and what their life projects are for continue to be empowered; that is very enriching for us and for the victims”.
Young people who work with the operators of Unit
Yolanda Rueda, Operations Director of Outsourcing SA, one of the operators with which the Victims Unit works and in which these young people are linked, highlighted her work: “The group of people we are talking about all of them fully comply with the profile for the position. Today they support us by resolving constitutional actions and management regarding administrative compensation, achieving excellent results in their achievements and daily indicators “.
For his part, Marvin Lozano, a young man born in Bahía Solano, Chocó, a victim of conflict, who studied law and today specializes in Human Rights at the Higher School of Public Administration (ESAP), and who sent an email to the director of unit to ask for help on labor issues, had the opportunity to thank Ramón Rodríguez personally for having answered the mail to give him an employment opportunity with the entity through Outsourcing SA: “This shows the commitment that this management has with the people that are in this condition and that one way or another more than the condition we contribute with our work and with our initiatives so that the doors keep opening. I want to thank all the people of the entity, the director and all those who make it possible for me to continue working with and for the victims”.
The lawyer Ariela Vergara, victims of forced displacement and native of Corozal, Sucre, and who is also a beneficiary of the Higher Education Fund of the Victims Unit, assured that it is a valuable opportunity that the Unit opened the doors for her. link: “The truth is that after finishing my studies it was very difficult to achieve a job link, for me it was very beneficial and rewarding to be able to work with and for the victims. Education is what makes peace and what repairs a victim”.
Finally, the director Ramón Rodriguez invited all the victims to participate and benefit from the higher education fund of Unit: “We know that the quotas are few, we are doing the management with the Ministry of Education so that there is greater coverage. Today we have 400 or 500 beneficiaries. We continue insisting that they present themselves”, he concluded.
(FIN/DFM/CMC)
