Joining the labour force: Colombia's challenges reintegrating the ex-combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP)
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2017-09-14
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Abstract
Following years of continuing armed conflict since 1964, a historic peace agreement was signed in 2016 between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP). Consequently, this means that great challenges lie ahead for the Colombian government in ensuring that the peace process is successful. Specifically, in this process, the government must redirect its efforts to ensuring the socio-economic reintegration of FARC-EP's former combatants. Without the Colombian government's full commitment to this process, there is likely to be a resurgence of violence, affecting the already battered national economy—to the detriment of the country's social and political stability.
Most of the literature on the process of Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) suggests that former combatants could become a potential threat unless exceptional efforts are made during their transition to civilian life. In this regard, policy makers in post-conflict scenarios and DDR practices have advocated for a wide-ranging approach that involves providing the following services: (i) identifying the needs and profiles of ex-combatants, (ii) providing housing, (iii) ensuring psychological counselling during the transition stage, and (iv) sensitizing recipient communities.1 Governments must also focus their efforts on attaining financial independence for former combatants by providing them with vocational training, and linking them to income-generating alternatives that meet the interests of former combatants and the government's budget constraints.2
The most recent data on the FARC-EP's combatants suggests that a total of 10,015 individuals (mostly illiterate and from rural areas) will be subject to the government's assistance. 3 Thus, it is recommended that the Government of Colombia should adopt a two-front policy. First, the government should aim to train former combatants in a particular trade that enables their later incorporation into community-based schemes that are mainly situated in agricultural practices. Second, the government must set forth the conditions, [ii] and provide the financial and technical support for the establishment of such schemes. By executing such a comprehensive policy, the Colombian government will provide the means for FARC-EP members to restart their lives with a viable means of supporting themselves throughout the post-conflict timeframe.
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Guzmán Vanegas, Karen. (2017). Joining the labour force: Colombia's challenges reintegrating the ex-combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP). (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.