In excess of 220,000 people are currently registered as victims of internal displacement in Caquetá, while tens of thousands more remain unregistered.  The majority are concentrated in Florencia, the Caquetá Department’s capital city. The integration of victims into their new surroundings is made difficult by a number of factors including limited opportunities to improve their living and employment conditions, the poor prospects of returning home in the near future and social stigma.

The objectives of the FORTES programme are:

• improve the coordination of government and non-government organisations providing victim support
• ensure care and integration opportunities reach victims more effectively
• increase the number of registered victims and the amount of government support provided
• provide training and links to employers to facilitate access to job opportunities for both victims and other disadvantaged groups of the population
• administer financial subsides and support to individuals who go into business or are self employed

The FORTES programme is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the lead agency for the project is the Government of Caquetá Department. Most of FORTES’s work is carried out in Florencia, where the majority of internally displaced persons, an estimated 70,000, live.

The programme is designed to help victims of the continuing armed conflict and other disadvantaged groups gain access to legal employment contracts by providing training and facilitating contact with employers. Support is also provided to those people who want to start their own business.

The focus of the programme is to establish a central victim support service point that is run jointly by the key state actors and overseen by Florencia City Hall. Information services together with access to state aid and non-state support are organised via this service point.

The programme also contributes to finding non-violent solutions to social conflict by providing mediation services and psychological care for vicitms.

The German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development has contributed an amount of €2,466,000 to the FORTES programme.

The Victims and Land Restitution law signed by President Juan Manuel Santos on June 10, 2011, aims to return stolen and abandoned land to internally displaced Colombians and provide reparations - including financial compensation - to victims of human rights violations and infractions of international humanitarian law. Due largely to support from the FORTES programme, theimplementation of this law is now coordinated much more effectively by the departmental and local governments in Caquetá.

The committee for transitional justice, which is responsible for victim support and compensation, is fulfilling its mandate and, through training, has improved the services it offers victims of conflict. The victim support service point in Florencia is also providing better service as a result of reorganisation measures implemented by the programme.

More than 3,500 victims of conflict – two thirds of whom are women or members of women-led households – have increased their income through employment or self-employment. They have successfully taken part in training and employment promotion activities which were supported by the programme. In addition, more than 100 young people have found employment in Florencia through a programme initiated by the Ministry of Labour.

Cooperatives, farmers’ organisations, victims’ associations and state institutions have accessed to government funding with guidance from the programme.

Owing to a lack of acceptance from the local community and inadequate information or shortcomings in the support offered by government agencies, many people do not register as internally displaced persons for fear of again falling victim to violence and displacement

Victims must be listed on the Internally Displace Persons registry to take advantage of the services the government is required to provide by law. However, even registered people may not benefit from these services due to insufficient coordination of the institutions involved in the national support system for victims.

The FORTES programme is improving care for internally displaced persons as well as assisting with their social and economic integration. Additionally, FORTES is supporting the development of economic opportunities for other disadvantaged groups of the population. Overall, the programme is making an important contribution to resolving social conflicts and strengthening the economic prosperity of the community in the Province of Caquetá.

- FORTES: Strengthening care and integration of internally displaced persons in Colombia, http://www.connective-cities.net/en/connect/good-practices/fortes-strengthening-care-and-integration-of-internally-displaced-persons-in-colombia/ (accessed 25 november 2016)