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41. Integration Through Health During Protracted Displacement: Case Studies From Colombia and Jordan

Author:
Katherine McCann, Fouad M. Fouad, and Monette Zard
Publication Date:
03-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on Migration and Human Security
Institution:
Center for Migration Studies of New York
Abstract:
As the global rate of displacement reaches new highs and the average length of displacement extends from years to decades, integration is an increasingly crucial lifeline for refugees and displaced communities seeking to rebuild their lives. Health systems serve as an ideal conduit for integration due to universal need, system complexity, and the interplay of political, social, and economic factors on health outcomes. Using lessons learned from case studies in Colombia and Jordan, this paper will explore different strategies for integration of refugee health services with host population health systems. It will highlight successful policy implementation and innovative approaches as well as predict potential barriers to success via a population-centered approach that emphasizes the importance of supporting host communities concurrently with displaced populations. It offers the following findings and recommendations for governmental and humanitarian actors. • Effective integration requires a “whole of person” approach which acknowledges and responds to the linkages between legal status, economic needs, and mental and physical health and wellbeing. • Addressing the health needs of populations experiencing protracted displacement must go hand-in-hand with, and cannot be decoupled from, addressing the needs of host communities. • Demographic and epidemiologic data inclusive of both host and displaced populations enables governments and service providers to better plan for and respond to key health and non-health needs. • Donors and financing structures can play a critical role in facilitating greater integration of health and other services.
Topic:
Health, Refugees, Displacement, Integration, and Forced Migration
Political Geography:
Middle East, Colombia, South America, and Jordan

42. Research Report: Women’s Meaningful Participation in Post-Conflict: Mechanisms and Challenges in Colombia, Nepal and South Sudan

Author:
Jocelyne Enriquez, Ali Foote, Alani Frace, Pía Madanes Quintanilla, and Siaira Milroy
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP)
Abstract:
The inclusion of women in peace processes and post-conflict governance has been shown to have positive effects on the duration of peace and on social inclusion.1 For instance, women representatives might encourage an increase of resources spent on public services rather than on the military2 and they improve public perceptions of the government which contributes to preventing conflict relapse.3 These conflict-prevention effects are highly desirable, reinforcing the call for the participation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional, and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict. This is reinforced by United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1325 and subsequent resolutions on women’s participation in peace processes: SCRs 1889 (2013), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), and 2493 (2019). Post-conflict peacebuilding contexts generate opportunities for women advocates to demand the presence of women in decision-making spaces and the wider public sphere,4 which contributes to women’s empowerment.5 Research on the correlation between the end of war and women’s increased political participation further illustrates this point. Tripp’s 2015 research6 on Africa and Berry’s 2018 research7 in Rwanda and Bosnia-Herzegovina have found that conflict resolution in these contexts have had positive effects on women’s political agency.
Topic:
Governance, Women, Participation, Post-Conflict, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:
Colombia, Nepal, South Sudan, and Global Focus

43. Long-term reintegration challenges and opportunities for female ex-combatants: Insights from Aceh, Burundi, Colombia, Mindanao, Nepal and Uganda

Author:
Evelyn Pauls
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Berghof Foundation
Abstract:
The policy brief analyses long-term reintegration challenges and opportunities for female ex-combatants. Drawing insights from working with female ex-combatants in Aceh, Burundi, Colombia, Mindanao, Nepal, and Uganda, it sheds light on the often neglected aspects of their experiences after conflicts end. It offers recommendations for policymakers, peacebuilders and many more on how to design sustainable post-conflict reintegration processes for female ex-combatants.
Topic:
Women, Armed Conflict, Post-Conflict, and Reintegration
Political Geography:
Uganda, Africa, Indonesia, Colombia, South America, Nepal, Burundi, Southeast Asia, Mindanao, and Aceh

44. Ana María Otero-Cleves and writing about the Global from the Periphery: Interview with the Winner of the Toynbee First Book Manuscript Workshop Competition

Author:
Ana María Otero-Cleves and Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz
Publication Date:
09-2022
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Toynbee Prize Foundation
Abstract:
Ana María Otero-Cleves’s book manuscript examines how Colombian peasants, artisans, formerly enslaved people, bogas (river boatmen), market women, and small landholders became the largest consumers of foreign commodities between the mid-nineteenth century and early twentieth century (1850–1910). It is the first study to argue that the consumption of foreign goods was not solely, nor primarily, an upper-class phenomenon and that the tastes and demands of the country’s popular sectors changed nineteenth-century patterns of production abroad. The manuscript demonstrates that far from being indigenous, the material culture of broad sections of the country’s population was inextricably intertwined with global trends by the end of the nineteenth century. It shows that the appropriation of imported commodities by Colombian popular sectors was in great part due to foreign manufacturers’ willingness to alter or redesign their products to satisfy their demands. Thus, by following the preferences of the popular sectors for English textiles, American machetes, and French patent medicines, among many other foreign commodities, the book demonstrates how, in their capacity as free citizens, Latin American consumers became active agents in the construction of the nation’s marketplace as well as dynamic participants in the global circulation of modern commodities. By methodologically and narratively shifting from the periphery to the centre, the book offers an exciting and original perspective on global interconnectivity in the nineteenth century, where the taste of the popular sectors of apparently isolated countries, such as Colombia, played a key part. Historians, scholars, and students interested in the global history of consumption will find this seemingly marginal case study ideal for testing theories proposed by social scientists on global relationships and on the ability of “peripheral” subjects to transform global dynamics. By examining how popular consumers’ demands affected patterns of exchange and production in Europe and the United States, Otero-Cleves contests the presumption that Colombia’s global relationships in the nineteenth century were dictated solely by outsiders and, even more so, the country’s elites. Moreover, this case study forcefully challenges ongoing stereotypes about Latin America’s peripheral role in the world economy and its unquestionable “dependency” and, furthermore, the lack of agency in the marketplace of the popular classes. By showing how popular consumption was a key broker between political economy and citizenship in the mid-nineteenth century, the manuscript also engages with the burgeoning historiography on subaltern groups and popular politics in nineteenth-century Latin America. The manuscript shows how popular sectors participated in the market economy not only as part of the country’s labour force but as individuals engaged in the consumption and adoption of new needs and comforts; it also explores the extent to which their role as consumers shaped ideas and practices of citizenship in mid-nineteenth-century Colombia. The study not only suggests that citizenship was formed, contested, and recognised in fairs, streets, plazas, tiendas, and local markets but argues that men’s and women’s entry into the market economy and their pursuit of material betterment gave meaning to ideas of citizenship and fashioned practices of political recognition in the second half of the century.
Topic:
History, Citizenship, Economy, Commodities, and Historiography
Political Geography:
Colombia, South America, and Latin America

45. Civil Society-Led Truth-Seeking Initiatives: Expanding Opportunities for Acknowledgment and Redress

Author:
Eduardo González Cueva, Jill Williams, and Félix Reátegui Carrillo
Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
Abstract:
This study reviews civil society-led truth-seeking initiatives in different regions of the world drawing on their experiences, methodologies, and contributions. It identifies lessons learned and best practices and presents practical options for activists considering similar endeavors. The report is inspired by and builds on the work of transitional justice practitioners, including at ICTJ, who deploy wide-ranging modalities to advance truth seeking, including oral history, artwork, theatrical productions, reenactments, museum exhibits, memorials, films, and documentation projects. The right to the truth is a fundamental component of redress for victims of massive human rights violations. Institutional silence, suppression of complaints, and refusal to acknowledge such violations further perpetuates them by protecting and enabling those responsible. In many contexts, government-supported truth commissions are not possible. Moreover, total reliance on state-sanctioned formats can result in one-size-fits-all approaches to truth seeking, devoid of creativity or potential. In the absence of political will, civil society actors have responded to demands for truth by devising and carrying out truth-seeking efforts independently, using a wide array of tools and methods. Civil society-led truth-seeking initiatives provide a practical channel by which communities can respond to demands for redress when the state fails to deliver on its obligations to protect victims’ rights. While truth-seeking initiatives can take many forms, they generally share three main objectives: (1) establish the facts about human rights violations that remain disputed or denied and validate different interpretations and analyses of those facts; (2) protect, acknowledge, and empower victims and survivors; and (3) inform public policy, promote institutional reform, and contribute to social and political transformation. Through an examination of case studies from the United States, Colombia, Scotland, and West Papua, the report highlights common considerations and procedural questions that civil society groups should consider when designing and implementing a truth-seeking mechanism. These considerations can help inspire and guide civil society actors as they lead truth-seeking efforts in the United States and around the world.
Topic:
Reform, Transitional Justice, Youth, Criminal Justice, Memory, Engagement, Reparations, Gender, Atrocity Prevention, and Truth and Reconciliation
Political Geography:
Europe, Asia, Colombia, South America, North America, and United States of America

46. Ties without Strings? Rebuilding Relations between Colombia and Venezuela

Author:
International Crisis Group
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Bogotá and Caracas are back on cordial terms after a period of rancour. Their interests may not always align precisely in the years ahead. But with deft diplomacy, and help from neighbours, the two countries can nonetheless keep repairing their links to mutual benefit.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, Bilateral Relations, and Strategic Interests
Political Geography:
Colombia, South America, and Venezuela

47. Trapped in Conflict: Reforming Military Strategy to Save Lives in Colombia

Author:
International Crisis Group
Publication Date:
09-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Colombia’s new president, Gustavo Petro, says he will work to bring “total peace” to the countryside, including areas roiled by violent competition among criminal and other armed groups. This task will require significant changes to military approaches devised for fighting the insurgencies of the past.
Topic:
Crime, Governance, Leadership, Conflict, Peace, and Gangs
Political Geography:
Colombia and South America

48. Hard Times in a Safe Haven: Protecting Venezuelan Migrants in Colombia

Author:
International Crisis Group
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
In recent years, Venezuelans have streamed into Colombia looking for work and respite from their country’s socio-economic meltdown. But dangers also await them, including the clutches of organised crime. Bogotá’s change of government is a chance to reset policy to keep the migrants safer.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Migration, Socioeconomics, and Migrants
Political Geography:
Colombia, South America, and Venezuela

49. Economic Integration of Venezuelan Immigrants in Colombia: A Policy Roadmap

Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
This paper studies the formal labor market integration and firm creation of Venezuelan immigrants and refugees in Colombia between late 2019 to late 2021. It applies a novel framework to identify segments of the Colombian economy where Venezuelan immigrants and refugees are lagging behind. When it comes to labor market dynamics, we identify professional services as one of the sectors where Venezuelan workers are not integrating fast enough consistently across different parts of the country, hinting that the recognition of professional credentials might be an important bottleneck to effective integration. As for entrepreneurship, we find that sectors where there are fewer firm creations by foreigners as compared to locals include commerce and service industries all across the nation. This paper is accompanied by a set of downloadable files which list sectors of the economy in each geographic department with poor integration of Venezuelan immigrants both for labor markets and firm creation. These lists are meant to be used by national and local policymakers for further investigation of possible market failures or distortions hindering immigrant integration, given our results.
Topic:
Economics, Labor Issues, Immigration, and Economic Integration
Political Geography:
Colombia, South America, and Venezuela

50. Fiscal Policy in the Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis in Colombia: Executive Summary

Author:
César Rodríguez-Garavito, Luis Felipe Cruz-Oliveira, and Isabel Pereira-Arana
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Dejusticia
Abstract:
In Colombia today, discussing a legal framework for marijuana is not a hypothetical matter – it’s a real political possibility. In fact, in the 2018-2022 legislative period, three bills were introduced that proposed regulating cannabis for adult use as well as coca-leaf derivatives. This regulatory boom is not exclusive to Colombia; to date, 19 states in the United States and two countries – Uruguay and Canada – have approved a legal framework for adult-use marijuana. This marks a significant change from the hardhanded laws that have shaped the war on drugs from the time of former U.S. President Richard Nixon to the present. In Colombia, cannabis is the most widely used substance that has been declared illicit. According to the National Survey of Psychoactive Substance Use (Encuesta Nacional de Consumo de Sustancias Psicoactivas), published in 2019 by the country’s Ministry of Justice and the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística, DANE), more than 637,000 people used marijuana within the last year (2019, p. 66), which corresponds to 2.7% of the population between 12 and 65 years of age2 . Seventy-two percent (72%) of these people were between 18 and 34 years of age and lived in Bogotá, Cali, the coffee belt or Medellín (Ministerio de Justicia & DANE, 2019, p. 68). According to the National Planning Department (Departamento Nacional de Planeación, DNP), the geographical distribution of marijuana use tends to be concentrated in urban areas that are attractive for selling the cannabis produced in the Northern Cauca subregion (DNP, 2017, p. 105). Although that is not the only region with marijuana crops, the country is currently experiencing a boom in so-called “creepy” marijuana3 (as a result of the extent of this substance and dependence on the income from it), which is produced in the Northern Cauca municipalities of Caloto, Corinto, Miranda, Toribío and Santander de Quilichao. In this context, two sensitive factors arise in debating cannabis regulation in Colombia. One is that the areas that supply the illegal market have significant gaps in terms of socioeconomic well-being and continue to experience conflict dynamics partly associated with the substance’s prohibition. The other is that the regulation of marijuana, as the most widely consumed illicit substance in the country, must address the protection of public health and the health of those who use it. The majority of regulation proposals put little emphasis on the potential revenue coming from the market, or the allocation of those resources. If we agree that marijuana has played a central role in the origins of drug trafficking in Colombia, and that the regions where it is grown today lag significantly in socioeconomic terms, the transition to a legal market would be an opportunity to improve the peasant farmer and indigenous population’s living conditions, while also protecting public health by controlling the quality and potency of the cannabis that is bought and sold. All of these public policy actions require resources. While those who promote business interests in marijuana regulation insist on stressing the economic benefits for the overall economy, along with the amount of resources it would contribute to state coffers, they fail to mention specific measures that the State should delineate so the market can be based on rules that would finance the actions needed to address the regional problems that predate the regulations, or actually gave rise to the illegal trade. With the goal of illuminating this discussion, based on comparative experiences and on the Principles and Guidelines for Human Rights in Fiscal Policy, this document addresses three dimensions of the problem: (i) explaining, based on available evidence and conceptual debates, why regulation is necessary and what role the fiscal framework plays in this policy; and (ii) providing, based on comparative experiences, elements for designing the regulations’ fiscal frameworks. Finally, contemplating these two aspects, we present a proposal for cannabis fiscal principles.
Topic:
Regulation, Fiscal Policy, and Cannabis
Political Geography:
Canada, Colombia, South America, Uruguay, and United States of America