Human Rights Program, Colombia

USAID/Colombia

2006-2011

In July 2006, MSD was awarded the follow-on USAID contract to advance Colombian initiatives in preventing, protecting and responding to human rights abuses. MSD provides technical, training, logistics and grant support to Colombian State , government and civil society organizations to enhance and broaden respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. The contract seeks to build sustainability; strengthen independent oversight capacity and accountability of public sector entities; improve government capacity and HR public policy; foster a culture of human rights, and strengthen civil society’s role and capacity to promote sound public policy, robust dialogue and transparency. For the purposes of this contract, civil society is interpreted broadly, to include NGOs, academia, universities, media, labor unions, private sector, Chambers of Commerce, alliances, communities, networks, victim’s groups, etc.

MSD provides technical assistance to sustain and expand capacity in five areas, with particular attention to the needs of conflict-affected areas based on geographically isolated, economically marginalized and socially disenfranchised populations, and other “vulnerable groups” of civil society, be they urban or rural-based.

The USAID Human Rights Program, implemented by MSD, is working to develop new programmatic areas as the conflict in Colombia evolves, including work on labor union issues, monitoring of the human rights policy of the Ministry of Defence, and prevention of human rights violations in more focused geographical regions.

Enhanced Human Rights Project, Colombia
USAID/Colombia
2001-2006

Currently, MSD implements one of the largest human rights initiatives in Latin America funded under the social component of Plan Colombia. Under a $31 million USAID-funded contract, MSD provides direct technical and financial assistance to key Colombian institutions working on human rights issues, in an effort to promote changes in the current human rights situation in Colombia. In addition, MSD supports civil society organizations (CSOs) and NGOs and seeks to increase public awareness of basic human rights among officials and among Colombia’s most vulnerable citizens. The main objective of the Human Rights Program is to enhance and broaden respect for human rights through the implementation of three components: 1) Prevention of Human Rights Abuses; 2) Protection of Human Rights Workers; and 3) Response to Human Rights Abuses.

Through these components, MSD provides technical, and financial support to the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office to implement the Early Warning System (EWS). The EWS was created to prevent massacres, forced displacement, and other major human rights violations through the issuance of risk assessments to the Government of Colombia, who is responsible for effectively protecting the civilian population. For the Protection of Human Rights Workers component, MSD supports the Ministry of Interior (MOI) Human Rights Office as the operational arm of the protection program with technical assistance, training, and commodities to protect those persons at risk (NGO and union leaders, journalists, mayors, councilmembers). Finally, MSD supports the Vice President's Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Program and the Ministry of Interior to advance human rights policy formulation at the national and local levels.

MSD has forged a successful track record of strengthening civil society organizations through grants and technical assistance, as demonstrated by the $3.5 million grants program to 50 human rights NGOs in Colombia working with vulnerable populations (i.e. indigenous peoples, Afro-Colombians, journalists, Unión Patriótica, internally displaced persons, and peasants).