Summary

State Party Colombia ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 10 September 2015. It has participated in every meeting of the convention. Colombia has voted in favor of the key annual United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention every year since it was first introduced in 2015.

Colombia has never produced cluster munitions, though it imported them in the past and destroyed a stockpile of 72 cluster munitions and 10,832 submunitions in November 2009. Colombia is not retaining any cluster munitions for training or research purposes.

Policy

The Republic of Colombia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified it on 10 September 2015. The convention entered into force for the country on 1 March 2016.

Law 1604, adopted in December 2012, approved Colombia’s ratification of the convention and incorporated its provisions into domestic law.[1] Colombia has reported this law and other legislation and decrees under its national implementation measures for the convention.[2]

Colombia provided its initial Article 7 transparency report on 28 August 2016, and has submitted annual updated reports since then, most recently in May 2021.[3]

Colombia participated in several meetings of the Oslo Process that produced the convention and said that its decision to join stemmed from its concern about the “humanitarian impact” of cluster munitions.[4]

Colombia actively engages in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, as well as the Second Review Conference held in November 2020 and September 2021, and the First Review Conference in 2015. Colombia also attended intersessional meetings in 2011–2015 and in May 2022. It has participated in regional workshops on the convention.

Colombia voted in favor of the key annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting the implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in December 2021.[5] It has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution on the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Colombia has “deplored” the use of cluster munitions in countries such as Syria.[6] It has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria.[7]

Colombia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Interpretive issues

Colombia has provided its views on certain important issues related to the interpretation and implementation of the convention. In 2011 and 2010 responses to Monitor questionnaires, Colombia said it “absolutely rejects and prohibits any manner of transfer or storage of foreign cluster bombs in Colombian territory,” as well as “military operations with states not party to the convention in which they carry out exercises or actions prohibited by the Convention.”[8] Colombia interprets the convention as prohibiting investment in the production of cluster munitions.

Production and transfer

In a May 2011 letter to the Monitor, Colombia stated that it has never produced cluster munitions.[9] In the past, Colombia imported cluster munitions from Chile, Israel, and the United States (US). In 2010, Colombia stated that it has never transferred cluster munitions “to a third state.”[10]

In 2012, Chile’s Ministry of National Defense shared a document with the Monitor detailing two transfers—totaling 191 cluster munitions—to Colombia in the 1990s: 132 250kg cluster bombs in 1997, and 55 250kg cluster bombs, four air-dropped 250kg cluster bombs, and one fin stabilizer for a CB-250kg cluster bomb in 1994.[11]

Use

In April 2012, an official from the Colombian Ministry of External Relations told the Monitor that the Colombian Air Force decided to stop using cluster munitions after an evaluation found that they did not meet the operational requirements or needs of Colombia.[12]

In May 2009, Colombia’s then-Minister of Defense, Juan Manuel Santos, acknowledged that the Colombian armed forces had used cluster munitions in the past “to destroy clandestine airstrips and camps held by illegal armed groups” and said the submunitions sometimes did not explode and “became a danger to the civilian population.”[13]

The Monitor has reported on the case of apparent cluster munition use by the Colombian Air Force at Santo Domingo in the municipality of Tame, Arauca department, on 13 December 1998, which killed 17 and injured 27 others.[14] An investigation showed that a World War II-era “cluster adapter” of US origin was used to disperse several 9kg fragmentation bombs during the attack.[15] In December 2012, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) published its verdict on the case, finding that the Colombian Air Force used an AN-M1A2 bomb, which it said met the definition of a cluster munition.[16] The court found that Colombia should treat victims of the attack in accordance with its victim assistance obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In November 2017, the Supreme Court of Colombia upheld the decision.[17]

Stockpiling and destruction

Colombia announced that it had completed the destruction of its cluster munition stockpile on 24 November 2009.[18] It destroyed 72 cluster munitions (31 ARC-32 and 41 CB-250K cluster bombs) containing a total of 10,832 submunitions.[19]

Colombia has not retained any cluster munitions or submunitions for research or training.[20]

Policy

The Republic of Colombia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 6 September 2000. Colombia became a State Party on 1 March 2001.

Law 759 took effect on 25 July 2002 and serves as Colombia’s national implementing legislation for the Mine Ban Treaty.[1] Colombia reports that activities prohibited by the treaty are criminalized under its Penal Code.[2] Colombia has also enacted laws on victim assistance, land restitution, and mine clearance.[3]

Colombia has submitted a total of 22 annual transparency reports under Article 7 of the Mine Ban Treaty since 2002, with its most recent update provided on 5 April 2023.[4]

Colombia has participated in every meeting of the Mine Ban Treaty and hosted the Second Review Conference in Cartagena in November–December 2009.[5] Colombia attended the Nineteenth Meeting of States Parties held virtually in November 2021, and the intersessional meetings in Geneva in June 2022 and June 2023.

Colombia has made significant contributions to the Mine Ban Treaty at the highest level, and served as President of the Twentieth Meeting of States Parties in November 2022.[6]

Colombia is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines, and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war (ERW). Colombia is also party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. 

Production, transfer, and stockpiling

Colombia’s State Military Industry (Industria Militar, INDUMIL) ended production of antipersonnel landmines in September 1998, and destroyed its production equipment on 18 November 1999.[7]

The government of Colombia is not known to have ever exported antipersonnel mines.

Colombia completed the destruction of its stockpile of 18,531 antipersonnel mines on 24 October 2004.[8]

Colombia no longer retains any landmines for training purposes. In 2014, Colombia reported that it had destroyed its 586 previously retained MAP-1 mines.[9]

Use

There is no evidence that Colombian government forces have used antipersonnel mines since the Mine Ban Treaty’s adoption.

Use by non-state armed groups

Colombia has detailed at least 12 different types of mines produced by non-state armed groups (NSAGs), including antipersonnel, antivehicle, and Claymore-type directional fragmentation mines, some fitted with antihandling devices.[10] Its Article 7 report submitted in 2022 reiterated that antipersonnel landmines are manufactured and used both by organized armed groups, and by criminal enterprises involved in the production of narcotics and illegal mineral extraction.[11]

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo, FARC-EP or FARC), National Liberation Army (Unión Camilista-Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN), Popular Liberation Army (El Ejército Popular de Liberación, EPL), and other NSAGs in Colombia continue to produce and use antipersonnel landmines.

In 2022, there were 105 incidents of mine use in Colombia attributed to the ELN, 224 incidents of mine use attributed to FARC, and 26 incidents of mine use attributed to the GAO Clan del Golfo.[12] This represents a 30% annual increase on incidents of mine use reported during 2021.

During the first seven months of 2023, a total of 50 incidents of mine use were attributed to the ELN, 241 incidents to FARC, and seven incidents to the GAO Clan del Golfo.[13]

In February 2023, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace stated that the departments of Bolívar, Chocó, Nariño, and Putumayo were all seriously affected by use of antipersonnel mines, and called on all actors to halt use.[14] There were numerous additional reports up to mid-2023 of military and civilian mine casualties in Antioquia, Arauca, Bolívar, Cauca, Chocó, Huila, Meta, Nariño, Norte de Santander, Putumayo, and Valle del Cauca. These are all regions where armed conflict was ongoing between the National Army of Colombia and NSAGs. It is difficult to determine precisely when these mines were laid.[15]

In Balboa municipality, Cauca department, new contamination from antipersonnel mines was first reported in July 2022, amid fighting between FARC dissidents and another armed group and the National Army of Colombia. The area had previously been cleared of landmines.^[16]

As in previous years, media reports continued to detail new mine use and seizures of improvised landmines. In February 2023, the National Army of Colombia discovered a cache of 2,100 improvised antipersonnel mines in Los Andes village in Puerto Concordia municipality, Meta department. Each pressure-activated mine contained about half a kilogram of ANFO-based explosive and 200 grams of shrapnel.[17] In May 2023, a cache of improvised antipersonnel mines was discovered in Tumaco, Nariño department.[18] Colombia’s military also discovered a cache of improvised mines in Vista Hermosa, Meta department, in July 2023.[19]

In March 2023, the National Army of Colombia discovered improvised antipersonnel mines laid in Polín sector in Acandí municipality, Chocó department. This use was attributed to a faction of the GAO Clan del Golfo. The mines were laid in an area transited by migrants seeking to travel north through Panama.[20]

In November 2016, the government of Colombia signed a final peace agreement with FARC, which committed both parties to end the armed conflict and engage in peacebuilding, including through mine clearance.^[21] Subsequently, some FARC dissidents abandoned the peace agreement and resumed armed activities against the government.[22] More recently, former FARC fighters have reportedly begun providing information on areas mined during the armed conflict to the Colombian authorities, under the framework of the 2016 peace deal.[23]

In June 2023, a ceasefire was formally agreed between government of Colombia and the ELN. Negotiations continue on a comprehensive peace settlement. Within the formal ceasefire is a Protocol of Specific Actions for the Bilateral, Temporary and National Ceasefire, which commits the ELN not to undermine the principles and guidelines of international humanitarian law, or carry out offensive actions.[24]

COUNTRY SUMMARY

Colombia’s landmine contamination is the result of more than five decades of conflict with non-state armed groups (NSAGs). Mines have been laid by NSAGs in remote and hard-to-reach rural areas, and to protect strategic positions, access roads, and illicit crops.

While contamination in Colombia is low-density and scattered, landmines continue to affect local communities in the most heavily contaminated departments of Antioquia, Arauca, Caquetá, Chocó, Meta, Nariño, and Norte de Santander.[1]

In 2020, Colombia was granted a second extension to its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 clearance deadline, until 31 December 2025. In 2022, Colombia said it was uncertain whether it would meet this deadline, reporting that this was closely linked to progress in the peace process.[2]

Risk education was implemented primarily in municipalities that were accessible to clearance operators during 2022. Challenges included reaching remote communities, and ensuring that risk education approaches were tailored to the needs, cultures, and languages of indigenous ethnic groups.

Since a peace agreement was signed in 2016 between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People’s Army (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia–Ejército del Pueblo, FARC-EP), the number of annual casualties due to mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) has decreased significantly.[3] Mine/ERW victims receive assistance via a broader national reparation system for conflict victims. [4] In 2022, improvements in access to services for survivors were reported. Yet many victims still faced financial, physical, and administrative barriers to accessing medical care and rehabilitation, especially in rural areas.[5] 

ASSESSING THE IMPACT

Contamination

 Extent of contamination[6]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war; CHA=confirmed hazardous area; SHA=suspected hazardous area; N/A=not applicable

*The extent of contamination remains unknown in 157 municipalities.

**This total, reported by Colombia, includes ERW in addition to landmines.

Landmine contamination

Colombia’s mined areas consist of victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) laid by NSAGs. Command-detonated devices, which are not prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty, have also been reported. The improvised mines emplaced by NSAGs in Colombia have very low metal content and contain explosive substances derived from agricultural products, which makes them hard to detect during clearance; while their composition varies, depending on the region and the availability of primary components. Mined areas are low-density, nuisance minefields, designed to target military or paramilitary forces. The improvised mines found in Colombia are usually planted at a depth of 10–13cm, close to roads, riverbanks, ridge lines, and infrastructure commonly used by the military—but also used by the civilian population.[7]

As of the end of 2022, Colombia reported 3.81km² of mine contamination, including 1.95km² across 261 confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs) and 1.86km² across 312 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs).[8] These areas were in 76 municipalities and 16 departments.^[9] Of this total, 93 CHAs totaling 0.61km² and 80 SHAs totaling 0.74km² were newly-identified in 2022.^[10]

A further 157 municipalities were known or suspected to be affected by antipersonnel mines in 2022, though the extent of contamination in those areas remained unknown. This includes 122 municipalities that were inaccessible for security reasons.^[11]

Challenges to the identification of mine contaminated areas include geographic and climatic conditions, and the absence of mapping.[12] Demobilized FARC-EP forces have contributed to the identification of 137 possible minefields in multiple departments, and collected data on 53 possible mined areas in Antioquia and Tolima between 2019 and July 2022.^[13]

An estimated 480,000 people were reportedly affected by mines/ERW in Colombia in 2022, primarily in rural areas in the departments of Antioquia, Arauca, Bolívar, Boyacá, Caquetá, Casanare, Cauca, Chocó, Córdoba, Guainía, Guaviare, Huila, La Guajira, Meta, Nariño, Norte de Santander, Putumayo, Risaralda, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Vaupés, and Vichada. Mines hindered access to land, water, livelihoods, healthcare, education, and humanitarian aid.[14]

Cluster munition remnants contamination

It is unclear whether Colombia is affected by cluster munition remnants. Since 2017, Colombia has maintained that no known evidence of cluster munition contamination had been found.[15] However, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) found that the Colombian Air Force used an “AN-M1A” bomb, which it said meets the definition of a cluster munition, during an attack on Santo Domingo in 1998.[16] A study reported in 2021 that cluster munition remnants contamination was a possibility, as in the 1990s the Colombian Air Force had acquired two types of cluster bombs—the CB-250K from Chile and the ARC-32 from Israel—and did not seem to have provided sufficient information on their use prior to ratifying the Convention on Cluster Munitions and subsequent stockpile destruction.[17]

Other types of contamination

The extent of ERW contamination in Colombia remains unknown. Yet humanitarian demining reports and casualty data indicate that ERW accounted for 29% of all ordnance destroyed from 2007–2021, and had caused 5% of mine/ERW casualties recorded in Colombia since 1990.[18]

Casualties

5-year casualties total: 2018–2022

Between 1990 and 2022, a total 12,310 mine/ERW casualties (2,347 killed and 9,963 injured) were recorded in Colombia.[19]

     Casualties in 2022

Casualty demographics in 2022

     Casualties by civilian status in 2022

Casualties by device type in 2022

Note: APM=antipersonnel mine; AVM=antivehicle mine; CMR=cluster munition remnants; ERW=explosive remnants of war.

In 2022, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace (Oficina del Alto Comisionado para la Paz, OACP) and Comprehensive Action Against Antipersonnel Mines (Acción Integral Contra Minas Antipersonales, AICMA) recorded a total of 145 mine/ERW casualties in Colombia. Civilians accounted for 66% of casualties in 2022, up from 61% in 2021.

In 2021–2022, no civilian casualties were recorded during coca crop eradication activities. In contrast, 40% of civilian casualties during 2020 and 38% in 2019 had occurred during these activities. Seven military casualties occurred during the eradication of coca crops in 2021–2022, marking a significant decrease from 32 recorded in 2019–2021.

COORDINATION

     Summary table[20]

Notes: OACP-AICMA=Oficina del Alto Comisionado para la Paz–Acción Integral Contra Minas Antipersonales (Office of the High Commissioner for Peace–Comprehensive Action against Antipersonnel Mines); IIDH=Instancia Interinstitucional de Desminado Humanitario (Inter-Institutional Court for Humanitarian Demining); UARIV=Unidad para la Atención y Reparación Integral a las Víctimas (Unit for Attention and Integral Reparation to the Victims); N/R=not reported.

ADDRESSING THE IMPACT

Clearance

Highlights from 2022

In 2022, Colombia made slow but steady progress in demining and prioritizing municipalities for future land release. As of the end of 2022, operations were underway in 99 municipalities, while 18 were declared mine-free as a result of demining operations during the year.[21]

Management and coordination

Management and coordination overview 

The National Intersectoral Commission on Antipersonnel Mine Action (Comisión Intersectorial Nacional para la Acción contra Minas Antipersonal, CINAMAP), an interministerial body created in 2002, is responsible for monitoring and reporting on Colombia’s Mine Ban Treaty obligations. CINAMAP oversees cooperation between national and international mine action stakeholders.^[22]

Under CINAMAP, the OACP is the national mine action authority. OACP and AICMA coordinate all mine action activities. This structure integrates mine action coordination into Colombia’s broader national peacebuilding policy, led by the High Commissioner for Peace.[23]

Through AICMA committees, national strategic planning and technical requirements related to mine action are incorporated into local development plans.[24]

The Inter-Institutional Court for Humanitarian Demining (Instancia Interinstitucional de Desminado Humanitario, IIDH) is responsible for accrediting and tasking clearance operators in Colombia. IIDH is composed of OACP-AICMA, the Ministry of National Defense, and the General Inspection of Military Forces.[25]

The Organization of American States (OAS) oversees quality management and all mine action operators in Colombia; except for Humanicemos DH, which is composed of and led by former FARC-EP combatants.^[26] OAS plans to transfer its oversight responsibilities to the Colombian government by 2023.[27]

The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has provided technical assistance and capacity-building support to Humanicemos DH since 2018. ^[28] A workplan for 2020–2022 was established jointly by UNMAS and OACP-AICMA in this regard, leading to Humanicemos DH deploying its first demining team in March 2021, in Caquetá department.

UNMAS also coordinates the Mine Action Area of Responsibility under the Protection Cluster for Colombia, bringing together national and international operators.[29]

OACP has received technical assistance from the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (Fondation Suisse de Déminage, FSD) since 2016, and from the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining  (GICHD) since 2018.[30] In 2021–2022, FSD support focused on environmental management in clearance operations, developing national standards, and information management. [31] GICHD developed a capacity-building program for gender focal points in 2019–2021, and published a study in April 2022 on the contribution of mine action to sustainable development in Colombia.[32]

In May–June 2022, OACP-AICMA participated in two workshops organized by GICHD, on the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) and on the process of applying “all reasonable effort” in land release operations.[33]

Legislation and standards

On 15 June 2021, OACP-AICMA adopted 17 revised Technical Norms, which are Colombia’s national mine action standards. Humanitarian demining operators were given three months to submit updated operating procedures for approval by OACP-AICMA, in line with the revised Technical Norms.[34] All operators adhere to national standards on clearace.

In February 2021, Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz, JEP) recognized the planting of landmines as a war crime.^[35]

Strategies and policies

In 2019, Colombia developed a new five-year Mine Action Strategic Plan 2020–2025.^[36] The accompanying Operational Plan for Humanitarian Demining for 2020–2025 included annual workplans and financial projections.[37]

Information management

Colombia uses IMSMA, with technical assistance provided by FSD, GICHD, and UNMAS.[38] OACP-AICMA has enhanced its reporting and monitoring tools and created publicly available digital dashboards, which include interactive maps, infographics, and disaggregated data.[39]

UNMAS has reported that a working group of the Colombian government, the United Nations (UN), and FARC, planned to develop an information-sharing system between the government and FARC with the aim of mapping explosive ordnance emplaced during past conflict.[40]

Gender and diversity

Data on risk education and victim assistance in Colombia is disaggregated by age, gender, and ethnic group.[41]

In June 2022, a two-day capacity-building workshop was organized by GICHD for 22 female gender focal points from a survivors’ organization in Córdoba department.[42]

Demining positions remained largely occupied by men, yet women represented almost 9% of employees working in humanitarian demining in 2022, up from 4% in 2021.[43] OACP-AICMA reported that five of its nine board members were women.[44] The Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines (Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas, CCCM) reported that 67% of its staff were women. Humanicemos DH had a female director, while 24% of its staff were women.[45]

Clearance operators

Colombia had seven accredited clearance operators in 2022.

Two military clearance operators—the Humanitarian Demining Engineers Brigade and the Amphibious Humanitarian Demining Engineers Battalion—accounted for 84% of Colombia’s total demining and non-technical survey capacity.

Two national non-governmental operators—CCCM and Humanicemos DH—accounted for 5% of capacity. Three international operators—the HALO Trust, Humanity & Inclusion (HI), and the Danish Refugee Council—accounted for the remaining 11%.[46]

In 2022, UNMAS conducted the first Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Level 2 workshop in Colombia—aligned with the revised national Technical Norms, as well as the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS). UNMAS certified 21 people, including seven women.[47]

Land release: antipersonnel landmines

2022 land release overview: landmines[48]

 Note: APM=antipersonnel mines.

In 2022, Colombia released a total area of 1.32km² across 11 departments: Antioquia, Bolivar, Boyaca, Cauca, La Guajira, Meta, Nariño, Santander, Sucre, Tolima, and Vichada. Of this total, 0.96km² was cleared, while 0.24km² was reduced through technical survey and 0.12km² was cancelled through non-technical survey.^[49]

No clearance was reported in Norte de Santander in 2022, despite it being the department with the highest annual casualty total. Eighteen municipalities were declared mine-free in 2022.[50]

Five-year landmine clearance: 2018­–2022[51]

 Note: APM=antipersonnel mines.

In 2022, Colombia met the annual clearance projection in its 2020 Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline extension request (0.95km²), clearing 0.96km². In 2021, Colombia cleared 45% more land than projected (1.33km²), clearing 1.94km².[52]

Clearance has taken place in densely-vegetated and hard-to-reach areas, with some minefields being distant from the nearest road and requiring the use of mule trains to ferry supplies. The remote location of mined areas and the specific characteristics of the contamination (scattered with low metal components) has restricted the rate of clearance over the past five years.[53]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 clearance deadline

Summary of Article 5 clearance deadline extension requests[54]

Colombia reported that the presence of NSAGs in mine-affected areas hindered humanitarian demining work, preventing it from meeting its extended Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 clearance deadline in 2021.^[55] The deadline had been extended by 10 years from the initial 2011 deadline.

In 2020, Colombia was granted a second extension to its Article 5 deadline, for four years and 10 months, until 31 December 2025.[56] Colombia’s extension request included an operational plan for 2020–2025, based on 156 accessible municipalities. Another 166 municipalities with contamination were inaccessible due to insecurity.[57] Colombia intended to review the plan by April 2023 and assess the situation in the inaccessible municipalities.[58]

In 2022, Colombia was on target to meet the land release and clearance objectives stated in its extension request, in relation to the accessible areas. Yet NSAGs continued to lay improvised landmines, and it is likely that new, unrecorded contamination will add to the areas yet to be addressed. Progress toward a mine-free Colombia by the end of 2025 is uncertain, and depends additionally on ongoing peace talks with NSAGs not party to the 2016 peace agreement.[59]

Land release: cluster munition remnants

Colombia has been party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions since 2016, and has reported that it does not have any cluster munition remnants contamination.[60] Yet CCCM reports that no survey has been undertaken to confirm this.[61] A 2021 study indicated possible unreported use of cluster munitions by the Colombian Air Force during past armed conflict.[62]

Land release: other ordnance

Disaggregated data is not available on other ordnance destroyed during land release operations in areas affected by mixed contamination.[63]

Security issues

In May 2022, deminers in Colombia were twice targeted by NSAGs: two CCCM trucks were set on fire in Antioquia department, while six personnel of Humanitarian Demining Engineers Brigade No. 1 were injured in an attack in Meta department. In late 2021, HI and the HALO Trust suspended activities in Antioquia and Meta following arson attacks on their vehicles.[64]

UNMAS launched a three-month campaign across 11 departments from December 2022 titled “Mine Action is Humanitarian Action,” to advocate for safer access to clear contaminated  areas.[65]

Residual hazards

Colombia reported that residual risk will be addressed by Humanitarian Demining Engineers Brigade No. 1, while humanitarian operators remain responsible for addressing residual risk for six months after completing clearance tasks. Colombia reported that as of the end of 2022, nine CHAs in Antioquia, Bolivar, and Cauca were being addressed as areas of residual risk.[66]

Risk education

Highlights from 2022

OACP-AICMA listed persons with disabilities as a key target group for risk education in 2022, highlighting the need to adapt materials and methodologies to better reach this group.

The Danish Refugee Council reported that the increased flow of migrants from Venezuela into Colombia reinforced the need to identify their exposure to mine/ERW risks during transit.[67]

NSAGs sometimes opposed risk education activities, as mines were perceived as strategically protecting them from enemies and securing coca production.[68] HI reported that insecurity in some areas of Caquetá, Cauca, and Meta departments prevented risk education activities.[69]

Management and coordination

Management and coordination overview 

The National Mine Risk Education Board, under OACP-AICMA, coordinates risk education activities in Colombia, and held three meetings in 2021.[70] Some risk education operators also participated in Mine Action Area of Responsibility quarterly meetings.[71]

The National Learning Service (Servicio National de Aprendizaje, SENA) is the accreditation and certification body for risk education operators, under the Ministry of Labour.[72] As of the end of 2022, a total of 33 operators were accredited to conduct risk education in Colombia.[73]

Legislation and standards

Technical Norm No. 6481 on risk education was approved in June 2021, replacing the former Standard for Mine Risk Education 3.9.[74] The update was undertaken with the participation of all operators, and aligns with IMAS 12.10 on Risk Education.[75]

Strategies and policies

A risk education strategy is included in the 2020–2025 strategic plan, and will be implemented through annual action plans monitored by the National Mine Risk Education Board.[76]

Information management

GICHD supports OACP-AICMA to incorporate gender into risk education data collection.[77]

Risk education operators

In 2022, a total of 31 risk education operators were active in Colombia.

Of these, 26 were national operators—including governmental organizations OACP-AICMA, the Humanitarian Demining Engineers Brigade, and SENA—while five were international.

Beneficiary data

Beneficiary data in 2022[78]

*The totals provided by AICMA reflect data obtained from risk education operators in 2022.

**Disaggregated data on beneficiaries with disabilities was provided by the Danish Refugee Council.

In 2022, a total of 132,077 risk education beneficiaries were reached across 264 municipalities in every department of Colombia.

Target groups

In 2022, the Danish Refugee Council and the HALO Trust provided risk education in remote and rural areas, with the HALO Trust also delivering safety briefings to humanitarian staff.[79]

Needs, vulnerability, and capacity assessments were used to prioritize risk education.[80] Rural and urban communities, and also internally displaced persons (IDPs), were considered at-risk groups.^[81] Migrants crossing the border from Venezuela and entering areas where NSAGs were present were also at high risk.[82]

During 2022, target groups for risk education included men, afro-descendants, and indigenous persons. These groups were particularly at-risk in poor rural areas, where livelihood activities such as agriculture, ranching, mining, and crop eradication exposed them to mine/ERW risk.

Indigenous groups often live in remote areas used by NSAGs as corridors for drugs and arms trafficking, which are mined to prevent military incursions. Men were difficult to reach during the daytime due to outdoor activities. Women, especially those from indigenous groups, were also exposed to mine/ERW risk when participating in subsistence farming and foraging.[83]

Children and teenagers were vulnerable due to transiting through contaminated areas to attend school, and due to picking up explosive items to play with. In rural areas, a higher proportion of children did not attend school, and therefore missed in-school risk education sessions.[84]

Delivery methods

The HALO Trust delivered risk education messages through local radio stations in rural areas, while the Danish Refugee Council used text messaging and WhatsApp. [85] The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) broadcast radio spots and distributed materials in local languages, and supported the Colombian Red Cross to deliver risk education in 2022.[86]

In 2020–2022, a project titled “Safe Steps” was developed through a partnership between the Antonio Restrepo Barco Foundation and the Discovery Channel, targeting seven departments and 44 municipalities. It involved community risk education sessions, a digital application, an interactive virtual reality game, and a short television series aimed at children.[87]

Emergency and school-based risk education, and risk education provided alongside clearance and survey operations, are the main methods of delivery.[88] Risk education was integrated into the primary and secondary school curriculum in Colombia.[89]

Risk education messaging focused on improvised mines and other ERW. Operators delivered risk education in municipalities where clearance was taking place and in municipalities where clearance was prevented by insecurity.[90] Challenges for risk education operators included low population density in some areas, as well as access constraints.[91]

In 2021, HI developed a guide on the provision of risk education to minority ethnic groups in Colombia, including materials in six native languages. The guide was produced with support from operators and representatives of indigenous peoples in Antioquia, Cauca, Chocó, Nariño, Norte de Santander, and Putumayo.[92] This guide was used and distributed in 2021–2022.[93]

Victim assistance

Highlights from 2022

The capacity of survivors’ organizations increased in 2022, with 14 receiving support from either the National Network for Antipersonnel Mine Survivors or OACP-AICMA. This enabled them to conduct awareness-raising more effectively, and assist with referrals.[94]

However, gaps remained in the provision of healthcare, rehabilitation, and psychosocial support services for mine/ERW victims, especially in rural areas.[95]

Management and coordination

Management and coordination overview

Responsibility for victim assistance is shared by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the Presidential Council for the Participation of Persons with Disabilities, OACP-AICMA, and the Unit for Attention and Integral Reparation to the Victims (Unidad para la Atención y Reparación Integral a las Víctimas, UARIV).[96]

UARIV is responsible for implementing Law 1448 on civilian conflict victims, including mine and ERW survivors. UARIV develops action plans and budgets for multisectoral planning.[97]

The Victim Assistance Technical Subcommittee, under OACP-AICMA, approves an annual budget and workplans for victim assistance operators in Colombia.[98]

The Ministry of Health and Social Protection leads on referrals for emergency care, longer-term healthcare, rehabilitation, psychosocial assistance, and socio-economic inclusion. It also grants disability certificates, allowing mine/ERW survivors access to services and benefits.[99]

In 2022, there were 75 separate referral pathways at municipal and department level, including 12 developed through survivors’ organizations.[100] In Antioquia and Putumayo departments, referral pathways developed in 2021 and 2022 recognized the cultural impact of mine/ERW incidents in indigenous communities.[101]

Some victim assistance operators coordinated activities in 2022 through quarterly meetings of the Mine Action Area of Responsibility.[102]

Legislation and standards

Colombia has a strong legal framework on the rights and needs of conflict victims and persons with disabilities. Yet access to services for mine/ERW victims remained unequal in 2022.[103]

The National Victims and Land Restitution Law provides assistance to all victims of conflict, including mine/ERW survivors. Spouses, partners, and family members also benefit.^[104] Many laws or decrees that promote the rights of survivors have been approved since 2007.^[105]

The Colombian Public Forces have a dedicated Comprehensive Rehabilitation System, which is led by the Ministry of National Defense.[106]

The Victim Assistance Technical Subcommittee decided in 2021 not to adopt IMAS 13.10 on Victim Assistance, as it would have been in contradiction with national regulations.[107]

Strategies and policies

Victim assistance is included within the Mine Action Strategic Plan 2020–2025.[108]

Information management

OACP-AICMA maintains the IMSMA-run Information Service for Mine Survivors (Servicio de Informacion para Sobrevivientes de Minas Antipersonnal, SISMAP), to share information and facilitate the registration of victims. During 2022, 135 survivors were newly registered.[109] SISMAP has identified a total of 4,868 mine/ERW survivors registered in the health and social security system.^[110] UARIV maintains the Central Registry of Victims.[111]

Victim assistance providers

Victim assistance providers in Colombia are involved in pre-hospital care, emergency medical care, and longer-term healthcare; functional rehabilitation; and comprehensive rehabilitation, including psychosocial support and socio-economic inclusion.[112]

The National Network for Antipersonnel Mine Survivors includes 580 survivors or victims’ relatives among its members, with OACP-AICMA providing capacity-building assistance.[113]

The Center for Comprehensive Rehabilitation in Colombia (Centro Integral de Rehabilitación en Colombia, CIREC) and the Foundation for Comprehensive Rehabilitation (Fundación Rehabilitation Integral, FRI) were among the service providers in 2022.

Six orthopedic centers received support from the ICRC in 2022.[114] SENA provided vocational training, as well as training for prosthetics and orthotics technicians.[115]

Needs assessment

Data collection on mine/ERW survivors and their injuries was ongoing during 2022.

Among survivors registered in the national IMSMA database for the period 1990–2022, of all persons injured, 16% had incurred amputations; 30% had shrapnel injuries or fractures; 18% had other wounds, burns, or lacerations; and 62% had visual and/or hearing impairments.[116]

Medical care and rehabilitation

A lack of health and rehabilitation centers in the most remote contaminated areas of Colombia was an enduring problem.[117] The ICRC reported that attacks against health services impeded provision of emergency medical care. Seriously injured people were evacuated by the ICRC. The Colombian Red Cross and the ICRC trained healthcare workers in wound management and war surgery, and provided first-aid training in affected communities.[118] Access to health services for persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, was limited and medical follow-up was inadequate.[119]

The ICRC covered the cost of transport, food, and medicine at state-run facilities and at ICRC-supported physical rehabilitation centers for some 200 mine/ERW survivors in 2022.[120] More than 350 rehabilitation professionals attended a workshop run by ICRC on wheelchair service provision and maintenance.[121]

In 2022, municipal physical training centers run by HI provided physical rehabilitation where services were lacking.[122]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

SENA provided vocational counselling to 135 survivors, or relatives of mine victims, to adapt income-generation activities to the individual profile of each recipient.[123]

The ICRC organized a wheelchair basketball championship in 2022 to foster social inclusion of persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors. It also engaged in disability rights advocacy at the local level.[124]

Colombia reported that psychosocial support for survivors was provided through the Program of Psychosocial Care and Comprehensive Health for Victims, and that a resolution was issued in 2021 to enhance psychological support and other victim assistance efforts. The program is implemented by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection.[125]

In 2022, Colombia received US$35.4 million in international assistance for mine action from nine donors.[1] This represents a 13% increase on the total amount received in 2021.

The largest contribution in 2022 was provided by the United States (US), which contributed almost $24.6 million, representing 69% of all international assistance to Colombia.

Of the total contribution, $30.8 million (87%) went to clearance, or toward clearance programs integrated with risk education and victim assistance activities. The remaining $4.6 million (13%) went to advocacy, capacity-building, and dedicated risk education or victim assistance activities.

International contributions: 2022[2]

 Note: N/A=not applicable; N/R=not reported.

In 2022, Colombia reported contributing $25 million to its mine action program for clearance and risk education, and for personnel.[3]

Five-year support for mine action

In the five-year period from 2018–2022, international contributions to Colombia totaled more than $168 million.

Summary of international contributions [4]

      Note: N/A=not applicable.