With an area approximately three times larger than Japan and a current estimated population of 50 million inhabitants, Colombia is the third country with the most population in Latin America after Brazil and Mexico. Due to its geographical location, Colombia is the only country in South America that has access to the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Amazon jungle and the Andes mountain range. For all this, it is said that it is the third country with the greatest biodiversity in the world. In addition to its recognized coffee, it is the second country in the world with the largest export of flowers such as roses and carnations, and also produces emeralds, oil and coal.
Since 1964, Colombia has battled with guerrilla groups for more than 50 years, however, in 2016 a peace agreement was reached between the government and the largest leftist guerrilla organization, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and then the president of that time Dr. Juan Manuel Santos was awarded as Nobel Peace. Since then, despite the difficult situation in which the dissidents of the FARC and the National Liberation Army (ELN) continue, efforts have been made to end the conflict and build peace.
JICA has the main objective of "supporting continuous and balanced socio-economic development during the implementation period of the peace process" and "enhancing efforts facing climate change by supporting the prevention against natural disasters." We are implementing our cooperation in these priority areas. So far, we have supported the development and expansion of the "One People, One Product" (OVOP) movement through the dissemination of rural development models to improve living standards and reduce inequalities in areas affected by the armed conflict. In addition, we have promoted support for inclusive development through organizational development and the strengthening of human resources to promote the removal of antipersonnel mines that still remain in various places, as well as the empowerment of conflict victims with disabilities. We are also promoting our cooperation towards the consolidation of an environmentally friendly society resilient against natural disasters.
In the future, taking into account the continuous progress of the efforts developed until today, we would like to work actively on partnership projects with private sector focused on the potentialities of Colombia.
In August of this year, Colombia will welcome a new president, and several changes and reforms are expected to be promoted. In this period of change, we would like to continue promoting inclusive development and cooperation based on these new policies and needs.
June, 2022
Resident Representative
SATO Hiroshi
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