A new project has begun in the extractive industries sector in Colombia that seeks to strengthen the capacities of citizens with regard to transparency, access to information and social control of the sector in different territories of the country where it is presented.
The Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) participates in this project led by Transparencia por Colombia between April and October 2018, starting work in the Lower Cauca and Northeastern Antioquia territories. This project, which has the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Regional Governance Program, also seeks to generate territorial inputs to the actions of the Civil Society Roundtable of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
ARM is one of the local partners that has been carrying out activities in the different municipalities since April, developing and implementing activities in the municipalities of Segovia, Zaragoza, Nechí and El Bagre.
So far, ARM has participated in various meetings with Transparencia por Colombia and local actors to define intervention methodologies and to provide feedback on proposed conceptual and methodological developments. It has also supported the implementation of field activities such as training, socialization of monitoring and social control tools and awareness raising for potential participants. The groups of beneficiaries are inclusive, made up of women, men and young people, people from rural areas and social organizations from the different territories. They have so far shown themselves to be collaborative and willing to acquire new knowledge.
As a preliminary matter, the subject of social housing financed with royalty resources has been identified as a priority interest for the beneficiary population in Zaragoza and El Bagre.