Colombia’s government is looking to international donors, aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations to help kickstart a rapid development program after a peace deal with the country’s largest rebel group is signed.
The 18-month Rapid Response plan, or “RR,” will be activated immediately if a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is ratified in a national plebiscite set for Oct. 2. The country’s Presidential Agency for International Cooperation is seeking $3.3 billion in international grants over the next three years to help fund post-conflict programs.
The RR aims to avoid some of the pitfalls that have unraveled previous peace accords across the globe in their first year after signing, according to the post-conflict ministry. Accords can fall apart, the RR plan warns, if promised initiatives take too long to get started, armed actors leave vacuums for other illegal activity, and reconciliation flails.
About the author
Elizabeth Dickinson@dickinsonbeth
Elizabeth Dickinson is a former associate editor at Devex. Based in the Middle East, she has previously served as Gulf correspondent for The National, assistant managing editor at Foreign Policy, and Nigeria correspondent at The Economist. Her writing also appeared in The New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Politico Magazine, and Newsweek, among others.
