In Colombia, the change comes from the territories
At peace negotiations with the FARC, the Colombian State is expected to turn to undertake changes as essential as land reform or reform of institutions paving the way for a more open democracy that guarantees political participation former insurgent groups. In fact the National Development Plan for Prosperity, roadmap President Santos from 2010 to 2014, brought a lot of structural reforms in the preparation of the British post-conflict law of restitution and recognition victims of the conflict, health reform, reform of the distribution of royalties from the exploitation of natural resources, etc..
But what is expected of the central government should not obscure the power and clout of local communities in Colombia. It would be wrong to overlook the potential of existing change locally as many communities have been able, in recent years, innovation in the conduct of their policies and lead the way to change all the Colombian government.
Colombia is a highly decentralized country, far more than any Latin American non-federal states. While a significant part of the resources of communities depends on state transfers (mainly under the General System of Participation or the general system of royalties) and institutions such as the DNP and the Ministry of Finance have means of controlling the community action, particularly on their debt. But the authorities have made considerable autonomy in the exercise of all public policy or substantially and skills are broad education, health, urban planning and development, water and sanitation, transport, etc.. This autonomy translates into true freedom of action and innovation when they have the financial, human and technical resources to carry out these policies in the best conditions. When municipalities do not have these resources, often the case in rural areas, are the departments which then exert most of their skills.
For ten years, Colombia has so many success stories of cities and territorial departments, before peace talks or efforts Bogota in view of the accession of Colombia to the OECD (process officially launched October 25, 2013), decided to turn the page of violence, clientelism and corruption. The example of Medellin, went from being the most dangerous city in the world in the 1980s and 1990s and early 2000s, in the city "most innovative" (title awarded in 2013 by the Wall Street Journal, Citi Group and the Urban Land Institute), has been widely reported in the Western media in recent years. But we can also mention two more discrete case, Barranquilla and Monteria, former paramilitary strongholds on the Caribbean coast, which have seen a succession headed by renewed municipal teams undertook a consolidation of municipal finances unprecedented, acting first place in the collection of taxes. These efforts have allowed their city to find investment capabilities they were able to use a very timely manner: ambitious health programs (Barranquilla now has the best hospitals in British network of public hospitals neighborhoods most vulnerable have nothing to envy to private clinics cities), formalization and integration of public transport systems, renovation and construction of schools, urban renewal. In Barranquilla, beside the emblematic Magdalena river, as in Monteria, on the shores of Zenu, downtown was reconnected to the river by shoreline development work and consistent effort of construction and renovation adjoining districts, while the river was always a power of urban space. These investments are changing the city more than one way: densification and revitalization of downtown by the installation of new businesses and the development of new housing, urban development favorable to pedestrians and motorized traffic, capacity of the transport system public beautification of downtown, and especially use of the river for travel and / or transportation purposes.
The Department of Antioquia, Medellin which is the capital, is a more significant example of this revival territories. Antioquia is literally the center of the conflict that shook Colombia for five decades: the presence of the various factions of the guerrillas in mountainous areas, first established in Antioquia paramilitaries, narco-terrorism, etc.. Elected Governor in 2012 beginning department, Sergio Fajardo, the former mayor of Medellin, which is at the origin of the rebirth of the city goes into overdrive to make up 50 years of absence of government and lack of a project planning, and pay the "accumulated social debt" with the inhabitants of this devastated land, in the words of the Governor.
We will not go into the details of projects today by the Department of Antioquia, which move the lines in many areas: transparency of public action and civic participation, education and training of rural youth, diversification of activities rural and resource development issues of biodiversity, prevention and management of natural hazards, rural housing, etc.. Beyond the quality of sectoral actions, it is also and above all territorial cohesion effort undertaken by the Department suggesting a new way of public action in Colombia. As Sergio Fajardo was undertaken at the time in the core of the most violent and most disadvantaged neighborhoods of Medellin, it intends to focus investment on the most vulnerable areas of Antioquia in a short time in order to initiate a dynamic development and to "give the best to the poorest." All sectoral policies mentioned above then decline as a function of the territorial play. Development Plan 2012-2015 includes the Department in this regard, in addition to the five sectoral axes (transparency and legality, education, security, social inclusion, sustainable development), two axes of territorial politics, a dedicated Uraba , an area historically neglected and more disconnected from the nerve center of the department, and the other for interregional cooperation programs with neighboring departments to promote policies adapted to living areas, fully precursor mode of action in Colombia. Colombia post-conflict has many challenges not only address social inequalities but also deal with regional inequalities which saddled for decades. From this point of view, the action of Antioquia is a pioneer, and Bogota, increasingly aware of the territorial challenge (a Branch territories emerged in late 2012 to DNP, supra-ministerial body Central and the State is developing contractual tools with the community plan contracts and city contracts) could be inspired.
Colombia, things are changing at a tremendous pace today. Cities and departments show us the last ten years that change is first played at their level. In a country marked by regional rivalries built despite regional caudillismes against Bogota, wounded by an internal conflict that has actually never stopped since independence, territorial policies are a prerequisite for peace and the State no mistake in working with innovative territories were able to show him the way.
At peace negotiations with the FARC, the Colombian State is expected to turn to undertake changes as essential as land reform or reform of institutions paving the way for a more open democracy that guarantees political participation former insurgent groups. In fact the National Development Plan for Prosperity, roadmap President Santos from 2010 to 2014, brought a lot of structural reforms in the preparation of the British post-conflict law of restitution and recognition victims of the conflict, health reform, reform of the distribution of royalties from the exploitation of natural resources, etc..
But what is expected of the central government should not obscure the power and clout of local communities in Colombia. It would be wrong to overlook the potential of existing change locally as many communities have been able, in recent years, innovation in the conduct of their policies and lead the way to change all the Colombian government.
Colombia is a highly decentralized country, far more than any Latin American non-federal states. While a significant part of the resources of communities depends on state transfers (mainly under the General System of Participation or the general system of royalties) and institutions such as the DNP and the Ministry of Finance have means of controlling the community action, particularly on their debt. But the authorities have made considerable autonomy in the exercise of all public policy or substantially and skills are broad education, health, urban planning and development, water and sanitation, transport, etc.. This autonomy translates into true freedom of action and innovation when they have the financial, human and technical resources to carry out these policies in the best conditions. When municipalities do not have these resources, often the case in rural areas, are the departments which then exert most of their skills.
For ten years, Colombia has so many success stories of cities and territorial departments, before peace talks or efforts Bogota in view of the accession of Colombia to the OECD (process officially launched October 25, 2013), decided to turn the page of violence, clientelism and corruption. The example of Medellin, went from being the most dangerous city in the world in the 1980s and 1990s and early 2000s, in the city "most innovative" (title awarded in 2013 by the Wall Street Journal, Citi Group and the Urban Land Institute), has been widely reported in the Western media in recent years. But we can also mention two more discrete case, Barranquilla and Monteria, former paramilitary strongholds on the Caribbean coast, which have seen a succession headed by renewed municipal teams undertook a consolidation of municipal finances unprecedented, acting first place in the collection of taxes. These efforts have allowed their city to find investment capabilities they were able to use a very timely manner: ambitious health programs (Barranquilla now has the best hospitals in British network of public hospitals neighborhoods most vulnerable have nothing to envy to private clinics cities), formalization and integration of public transport systems, renovation and construction of schools, urban renewal. In Barranquilla, beside the emblematic Magdalena river, as in Monteria, on the shores of Zenu, downtown was reconnected to the river by shoreline development work and consistent effort of construction and renovation adjoining districts, while the river was always a power of urban space. These investments are changing the city more than one way: densification and revitalization of downtown by the installation of new businesses and the development of new housing, urban development favorable to pedestrians and motorized traffic, capacity of the transport system public beautification of downtown, and especially use of the river for travel and / or transportation purposes.
The Department of Antioquia, Medellin which is the capital, is a more significant example of this revival territories. Antioquia is literally the center of the conflict that shook Colombia for five decades: the presence of the various factions of the guerrillas in mountainous areas, first established in Antioquia paramilitaries, narco-terrorism, etc.. Elected Governor in 2012 beginning department, Sergio Fajardo, the former mayor of Medellin, which is at the origin of the rebirth of the city goes into overdrive to make up 50 years of absence of government and lack of a project planning, and pay the "accumulated social debt" with the inhabitants of this devastated land, in the words of the Governor.
We will not go into the details of projects today by the Department of Antioquia, which move the lines in many areas: transparency of public action and civic participation, education and training of rural youth, diversification of activities rural and resource development issues of biodiversity, prevention and management of natural hazards, rural housing, etc.. Beyond the quality of sectoral actions, it is also and above all territorial cohesion effort undertaken by the Department suggesting a new way of public action in Colombia. As Sergio Fajardo was undertaken at the time in the core of the most violent and most disadvantaged neighborhoods of Medellin, it intends to focus investment on the most vulnerable areas of Antioquia in a short time in order to initiate a dynamic development and to "give the best to the poorest." All sectoral policies mentioned above then decline as a function of the territorial play. Development Plan 2012-2015 includes the Department in this regard, in addition to the five sectoral axes (transparency and legality, education, security, social inclusion, sustainable development), two axes of territorial politics, a dedicated Uraba , an area historically neglected and more disconnected from the nerve center of the department, and the other for interregional cooperation programs with neighboring departments to promote policies adapted to living areas, fully precursor mode of action in Colombia. Colombia post-conflict has many challenges not only address social inequalities but also deal with regional inequalities which saddled for decades. From this point of view, the action of Antioquia is a pioneer, and Bogota, increasingly aware of the territorial challenge (a Branch territories emerged in late 2012 to DNP, supra-ministerial body Central and the State is developing contractual tools with the community plan contracts and city contracts) could be inspired.
Colombia, things are changing at a tremendous pace today. Cities and departments show us the last ten years that change is first played at their level. In a country marked by regional rivalries built despite regional caudillismes against Bogota, wounded by an internal conflict that has actually never stopped since independence, territorial policies are a prerequisite for peace and the State no mistake in working with innovative territories were able to show him the way.
Jeremie Bonhomme Project Manager Local Authorities in French Development Agency (Agence Francçaise de Dévelopment, branch of Bogota). Graduated from Sciences Po in public affairs, he was previously Head of Mission to the office of Minister for European Affairs and the Minister of higher Education and Research (2010-2012).