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Germany Announces Contribution to the OAS Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, and the Director General for Africa, Asia, Latin America, Near- and Middle East of the Foreign Office of Germany, Clemens von Goetze, announced today that the European country would add two million euros to its contribution to the Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia (MAPP/OAS).

Upon exchanging the letters that formally conclude the agreement, Secretary General Insulza thanked Germany for its important contribution, which was made shortly following the extension of the agreement between the OAS and Colombia to extend the MAPP for three years. “With this contribution, we will be able to cover in large measure the agreement to extend the MAPP until 2018,” he said and added that “we are certain that these three years of work will help us to increase our presence in some territories and at the same time to continue to be relevant to the peace process.”

The OAS leader emphasized the important role of Germany, which has been a Permanent Observer to the OAS since 1972, in supporting several programs of the Organization “to promote peace and conflict resolution, electoral cooperation, civil identity, the rights of indigenous peoples and sustainable development in the Americas.” “Through its support for the MAPP over the last eight years, Germany has become a key partner and supporter of the Organization´s work in fostering peace, reconciliation and justice in Colombia,” said the Secretary General.

For his part Ambassador Von Goetze highlighted that “it is very obvious that the peace process needs support and the OAS has proven that it can give this support with the full consent of the government but also those on the ground and that peace can only be achieved if justice is guaranteed at the same time.” The German diplomat said the MAPP/OAS “shows that the OAS can be helpful in this kind of political process, and that the peace process in Colombia might well be a model for others.”

The Alternate Representative of Colombia, Yadir Salazar, speaking on behalf of the Permanent Representative of Colombia to the OAS, Andrés González Díaz, expressed the gratitude of her country to Germany for the “generous contribution,” which she said reflects “Germany’s commitment and unwavering support to help Colombia reach a lasting and sustainable peace.” Minister Salazar said “It is not just Colombians who long for peace. It is an aspiration that belongs to all the countries in our Hemisphere and around the world. Colombia remains grateful to all our partners and our friends -Germany, the OAS and the many others - who believe and support this undertaking, and to everyone that believes that peace can and will someday very soon be a reality in Colombia.”

Also present in the meeting were the Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Albert Ramdin; the Head of the Political Department at the Embassy of Germany in Washington DC, Ludger Siemes; the Secretary for Political Affairs of the OAS, Kevin Casas-Zamora; the Alternate Observer of Germany to the OAS, Charlotte von Friedeburg; and the Director of the Department of Democratic Sustainability and Special Missions of the OAS, Christopher Hernández-Roy, among others.

The MAPP was established in January 2004, through an agreement signed by the Government of Colombia and the Secretary General of the OAS, with the objective of supporting the peace processes, including the verification and monitoring of agreements and the accompaniment of the communities that have fallen victim to violence. The mandate of the MAPP were written in broad terms, under the principles of autonomy, neutrality and flexibility, allowing the Mission to work in various areas that support the building of peace in Colombia: verification of the peace process; support for government, civil society and other initiatives; verification of the delivery, control and destruction of arms turned in by illegal armed groups; and support for local initiatives in conflict zones, through measures and actions designed to reduce violence, build trust, work toward reconciliation and strengthen democracy, through specific projects of the Mission in those communities. Under these functions, the MAPP/OAS puts particular emphasis on compliance with international obligations in terms of human rights and international humanitarian law, with specific focus on vulnerable groups.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-054/15