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Success Story
USAID-funded program
strengthens confl ict
resolution in Colombia
Water Disputes in Soacha Are Over
Photo: JRMP\Maria Dangod
Several youth mediators receive their
diploma after USAID-supported conciliator
training.
Between 2000 and 2008, the
USAID-supported CORNACESCUN
received 17,280 mediation
requests and carried
out 8,147 conciliation hearings.
Residents of Soacha, Colombia, and the surrounding areas learned to
resolve their differences through mediation thanks to an award-winning
USAID-supported program.
For more than 20 years, water distribution was a problem in the Cazucá
highlands located in Soacha, a municipality in the outskirts of Bogota.
Being a plumber had become one of the most dangerous jobs in an area
where everyday common crime combines with armed rebel group presence
and extreme poverty. Due to the lack of an adequate system for
drinking water, clean water became one of the most sought after goods
and a main motive for conflict.
“There were intolerant people that did not realize the water shortage was
caused due to the lack of an aqueduct, and blamed the plumber handling
the supply valves,” said Álvaro Huertas, an equity mediator in the region.
Faced with the water situation, the National Network of Equity Conciliators
Corporation of Soacha and Cundinamarca (CORNACESCUN for its
Spanish acronym) was established to resolve the problem. With USAID
assistance, CORNACESCUN implemented a project aimed at raising
community awareness about the benefits and objectives of the legal
process of mediation. The awareness strategy included the implementation
of 12 equity-conciliation traveling missions (one per month) and 100
door-to-door visits (on average nine per month). Additionally, 100 workshops
on coexistence were carried out by local mediators within their own
communities.
The water dispute case is one of hundreds resolved by the equity conciliators.
“Our organization was born in the Cazucá highlands. Almost five
years ago, we held a mediation hearing where 40 representatives from
seven neighborhoods attended, and where we reached agreements on
hours and shifts for the provision of water to each neighborhood. Today,
every time a problem arises on the matter, the minutes from that hearing
are brought out to remind people of what was agreed on. The people
have learned to uphold the agreements made regarding the distribution of
water,” Huertas said.
CORNACESCUN has been so successful that in October 2008 it received
the second place award from the Excellence in Justice Corporation
- the most well-known Colombian non-governmental organization
advocating for a more efficient administration of justice in the country
- recognizing its successful collective case resolution methods. Prompted
by USAID, the CORNACESCUN volunteers have helped prevent thousands
of Soacha’s community conflicts from becoming formal court cases
or from resulting in physical confrontations. Although smaller conflicts
persist, Álvaro Huertas and the other 67 conciliators will continue their
voluntary work to ensure respect and fair dealings among the residents of
the Cazucá highlands.
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