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WCC 2016 Res 095 - Activity Report

Submitted by Carolina.GARCIA... on Thu, 01/18/2018 - 22:58
General Information
Support for peace and nature in Colombia
IUCN Constituent: 
A02C53A4-DEB7-E611-B6EC-005056BA6623
IUCN Constituent type: 
IUCN Commission on Ecosystems Management 2017-2020
Period covered: 
2017
Geographic scope: 
Country
Country/Territory: 
Colombia
In implementing this Resolution your organization has worked/consulted with...
IUCN Members: 
No other Members are/have been involved
IUCN Commissions: 
No Commissions are/have been involved
Other non-IUCN related organisations: 
Corantioquia (Environmental Agency of the Centre of Antioquia); Colegio Mayor de Antioquia; Geological Society of Colombia
Implementation
Indicate and briefly describe any actions that have been carried out to implement this Resolution: 
ActionDescriptionStatus
Capacity-buildingThe work on Corantioquia about implementing Early Warning Systems for flash floods in 12 municipalities was a capacity building project meant to generate resilience and reduce the risk in the different communities, all of them affected by the armed conflict and therefore direct beneficiaries of the peace agreement.- None -
Education/Communication/Raising awarenessIn order to contribute to the item 4 of the Resolution, as a member of the IUCN I have been working on raising awareness and educating people from different backgrounds about the close relationship between the peace agreement and the sustainable management of Colombian natural resources. This has been developed while I was working on Corantioquia, which is the environmental agency of 80 municipalities in Antioquia Region. There I developed multiple workshops on ecosystem based disaster risk reduction and I also implemented Early Warning Systems for flash floods in 12 municipalities. Until recently it was not possible to visit several of this municipalities due to the arm conflict and due to the same, those municipalities require special assistance to gain resilience. On the other hand, while working as professor of Disaster Risk Reduction at the University Colegio Mayor of Antioquia I included in the curriculum a section to specifically addressed the relationship of the peace agreement and the sustainable development. This worked involded debates among the students and role games. Finally, as the president of the Geological Society of Colombia in Antioquia, and the coordinator of the Risk Management and Climate Change Group, I have participated in several open talks for general public on sustainable development and disaster risk reduction where I always address the close relationship of those topics and the peace agreement.On-going
Please report on the result /achievement of the actions taken: 
As result of the educational efforts on disaster risk reduction related with the peace agreement, around 250 students of Environmental Engineering, mostly from low income families, have gain awareness on the importance of the peace agreement and its direct relationship with the sustainable development.
The participants of the Early Warning Systems - EWS of the 12 municipalities expressed that thanks to the project they now gained trust on the public government and also expressed that they feel less abandoned. On the other hand, at least in two of those municipalities there are testimonies about how the EWS worked correctly during different flash flood hazardous events, and as result of this there were no victims. This is especially important in municipalities that has been traditionally affected by both armed conflicts and natural hazards.
What challenges have you encountered in implementing this Resolution and what measures have you taken to overcome them?: 
There is a general lack of trust in governmental initiatives related to the peace agreement, especially in Antioquia since there are several powerful actors that are against the agreement and at the same time that have strong influence in the antioquian population. On the other hand, people tend not to see the direct relationship of the peace process with the sustainable development
Identify and briefly describe what future actions are planned for the implementation of this Resolution: 
Future ActionDescription
Education/Communication/Raising awarenessContinuing the open talks for general public on sustainable development and disaster risk reduction where we will keep addressing the close relationship of those topics and the peace agreement. Additionally we are planning on organizing a public forum on the relationship of the peace agreement with disaster risk reduction. The goal is to develop the forum in a big public venue.