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Success Story
USAID brings the justice
system closer to four
southern Tolima
communities
USAID Brings Justice to the Countryside
Photo: Justice Reform and Modernization
Program.
Recently certified conciliators
after a USAID implemented
program that fostered a
successful alternative dispute
mechanism in a previously
underdeveloped region.
More than 100,000 people in
southern Tolima have enjoyed
the benefits of dispute resolution
services, practically delivered to
their doorsteps.
Even for minor disputes between neighbors, residents like
María Nelly Criollo of the rural municipality of Chaparral in
Southern Tolima had to travel long distances to seek
redress from the legal system. For years, the political
unrest, tough terrain, presence of illegal armed groups
prevented the Colombian justice sector from serving the
region on a regular basis. However, the situation recently
changed with the help of USAID.
"Before, people had to travel for days to distant urban
areas to get the attention they needed. They lost time
away from work and had to pay for transportation,” one
conciliator said. “Now, people in our communities have
access to free, comprehensive and equitable resolution of
their problems – and, best of all, they get those services
right where they live.”
With USAID assistance, conciliators are now dealing with
more than a 100 cases per month. Before the program,
conciliators lacked formal training and could only process
about 30. Criollo, like the 128,000 other people from her
community and three nearby municipalities - Ataco,
Rioblanco and Ortega - no longer have to venture far for
legal services.
After identifying community leaders who were already
practicing some form of mediation in the areas, USAID
organized them into community-based committees that
began to provide alternatives to the formal justice sector in
their areas. They then listened to the disputing parties,
consulted with others who were affected by the conflict
and negotiated a solution that resolved the dispute to the
satisfaction of all concerned.
USAID did not stop there. In 2008, the Agency took the 60
most effective mediators from the region, as determined
by their own communities, and trained and certified them
as conciliators in equity, capable of providing alternative
dispute resolution services as stipulated under Colombian
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