Colombian civil society in favor of reducing armed violence and promoting development
	(Bogota, April - 2011) – The International Forum entitled “More Development: Less Arms”, sponsored by the Colombian Office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), was held in Bogota on 25 March, in which several representatives of civil society organizations, Colombian governmental authorities and international organizations took part. The forum allowed local and regional experts to debate and exchange experiences on the development and implementation of awareness raising campaigns on disarmament and armed violence. In this context, UNLIREC was invited to make a presentation on its practical disarmament initiatives in the region, in particular on how to transfer what is stipulated in the international disarmament instruments to the field. UNLIREC also took advantage of the opportunity to share its study: “Preventing Fire Arms Proliferation and Armed Violence in Schools in Latin America and The Caribbean” with course participants. The “Declaration of Colombian Civil Society on Armed Violence and Development” was signeda day before, on 24 March, in the presence of the Vice President of the Republic, Mr Angelino Garzón. This Declaration is part of civil society efforts to promote cooperation and commitment among different actors for armed violence reduction, following the spirit of what was established in the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development. In Colombia, the violence caused by firearms is still one of the main development problems and has been identified as one of the more serious causes of human rights violations. Despite the progress made in the last few years, firearms-related injuries and deaths continue to cause a human impact of considerable dimensions and represent a burden for families, communities and the health system. Organized crime continues to be the first cause of insecurity for Colombians, both the violence caused by criminal organizations as well as that resulting in internal armed conflict, constituting a real threat for human security in Colombia. During the 90s, the average homicides rate was close to 70 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest rates in the world, even exceeding countries at war. During the past few years this number has been reduced, although is still one of the highest in the world. In 2010, there were 32 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a country that exceeds 10 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants suffers a violence “epidemic”. For further information: Bárbara Ortiz +51.1.625.91.13 - ortiz@unlirec.org