Colombia Introduces National Development Plan
Government of Colombia introduces: The ABC’s of the National Development Plan, “Colombia, World Power of Life.”
Bogota, May 5, 2023
The Government of Change presented the main points of the National Development Plan 2022 – 2026,“Colombia, World Power of Life,” addressing social matters, climate action, Total Peace, among others.
The new social contract aims to revert injustice, historical exclusion and reduce socio-economic gaps.
Source: Presidencia de la Republica de Colombia informed by the Departamento Nacional de Planeación
What are the details of the 2022-2026 Development Plan (PND) and how does it differ from previous PNDs?
The government of President Gustavo Petro proposes that the transformations be carried out taking the territory and the people as a starting point. For this reason, it is the product of an intense national dialogue with communities, territories and sectors.
More than 250,000 people participated in its construction, who throughout Colombia expressed their needs and proposals to improve their living conditions.
How were the proposals made by the community incorporated into the binding dialogues?
The 89,788 proposals received in the 51 binding regional dialogues, carried out throughout the country, were essential to define the strategic objectives, the strategic lines and priority projects of the Development Plan.
What is the main objective of the PND?
This plan is the beginning of a transition that leads to Total Peace. An opportunity for all of us to live a dignified life and build a new social contract that encourages overcoming injustices and historical exclusions, the non-repetition of the conflict, changing our way of relating to the environment, and a productive transformation based on the knowledge and in harmony with nature.
What are the main impacts expected with this PND?
The transformations proposed by the Plan are ambitious. They seek to guide the economy towards the promotion of economic, social and environmental development. But a biodiverse economy is impossible without land use planning and greater inclusion.
What are the major and/or most important transformations proposed by the PND?
The five major transformations proposed by the 2022-2026 National Development Plan are:
(a) Land use planning around water.
(b) Human security and social justice.
(c) Human right to food.
(d) Productive transformation, internationalization and climate action.
(e) Regional convergence.
What are the estimated investments to materialize this PND?
This Development Plan proposes investments of 1,154.8 billion pesos for the following four-year period.
- 136.5 billion for regional convergence
- 114.3 billion for productive transformation and climate action
- 744.2 for issues related to Human Security and social justice
- For the Human Right to food and Land Management around water, 47.4 billion
- 28.5 billion pesos will be allocated, respectively
These consolidated figures do not include the estimate of private resources and may change with the discussion in Congress.
What does land use planning around water mean?
If the territory around the water is not organized, human activity will not be sustainable. Respect for water, its cycles and ecosystems is the first step towards the consolidation of an environmentally sustainable economic and production model that is not based on oil or coal.
This is the first National Development Plan whose axis is Territorial Planning around Water and Life, to transform the countryside and increase the country’s productivity with social and environmental justice.
How is the country doing on this front?
In complete chaos, which means that the country’s water wealth and its biodiversity are not protected. There is a great regulatory disorder around Land Management Plans; at least 49 entities with competence in issuing these determinants, without hierarchies, procedures and standardized cartographic scales; more than 73 planning instruments from different sectors and territorial levels, which are not coordinated and do not achieve spatial convergence; and more than 57 norms (laws, decrees and resolutions) associated with territorial planning.
What are the major reforms/projects that this transformation will entail?
This item will imply a comprehensive rural reform, speed up the multipurpose cadastre, and the protection of oceans, coastal and insular areas, with the recognition of the communities that inhabit the territory, among other important issues.
What does the notion of human security and social justice consist of?
This objective implies the comprehensive protection of the population, the provision of social services without leaving anyone behind, and access to justice centered on people, communities and territories. Human security and social justice will guarantee human dignity, the exercise of the freedoms and the development of the capacities necessary for individuals and households to be able to carry out the life plan they consider valuable.
Therefore, this vision goes beyond the traditional approach based on physical security and defense to a more comprehensive one that considers economic and social security.
And what is the diagnosis of the country on this issue?
The lag of social policies is evident. Structural problems persist that limit the guarantee of the rights and well-being of the population. The country still has a good part of the population living in poverty:
39% of monetary poverty
12.2% of extreme poverty
16.0% of multidimensional poverty
Furthermore, a large part of the population is in a situation of vulnerability, and in the event of any shock they can return to a situation of poverty (31%).
This is without counting the high and persistent levels of inequality that have made us one of the most unequal countries.
What will these reforms entail?
The country requires a redesign of its social protection system to ensure the necessary, relevant and quality supply and a social security reform that guarantees universal protection against risks in health, unemployment and old age, but also to At the same time, labor reconversion and productive transformation are required that offer opportunities to the population and to all people the opportunity to develop their potentialities.
Why an entire chapter around the Human Right to Food?
For Colombia to be a true World Power of Life, it is necessary to guarantee the human right to food to all its population. For this reason, a chapter was created in which this issue is addressed from different key points, such as improvements in physical access to food, local production and even the use of new technologies to promote a country without hunger.
What are the main projects on this front?
It is not possible that our country is importing more than 13 million tons of food a year. Colombia must promote the local production of food and inputs by strengthening agricultural activity, based on the adaptation and/or adoption of technologies and a national agrologistics plan. It is also contemplated to stimulate healthy eating behaviors and the search for universal coverage of the School Feeding Program.
What does productive transformation, internationalization and climate action mean?
The reindustrialization of the country through the development of science, technology and knowledge, can stop Colombia from being a country dependent on hydrocarbons and use the resources they generate to make a safe energy transition. In addition, it will seek to be the regional leader in the care of the Amazon and the transition towards clean energy, which cares for the environment, while advancing in reforestation processes.
What is the development model and what are the main changes proposed?
It seeks to make Colombia a country with greater investment in Science and Technology and promote research and development to stop depending on hydrocarbons and become a knowledge society. Re-industrialization, agriculture, tourism, and rail, air, river, and road transportation infrastructure projects will be promoted to improve the country’s competitiveness and connectivity.
What is sought with this regional Convergence?
The National Development Plan, in the transformation of Regional Convergence, emphatically states that it is not possible for such rich territories to have such poor populations. What is sought is to reduce the social and economic gaps between households and regions with adequate access to opportunities, goods and services.
What projects will this transformation imply and what regional association models will be promoted?
There are many, among the most important is articulating land use plans so that rich regions do not have poor populations. The Regional Convergence will ensure that public institutions place the citizen at the center of their actions, to respond correctly to their needs and duly attend to their expectations.
The formation of close, multifunctional urban areas, with a diversity of activities, that promote social integration, adaptability to climate change and everything that allows accelerating the development of municipalities attached to large cities, taking advantage precisely of this geographical proximity to the centers urban.
How is compliance with the peace process with the Farc guaranteed?
The Teatro Colón Peace Agreement signed with the FARC is the cornerstone to move towards Total Peace. For this reason, the provisions of the Framework Plan for the Implementation of the Peace Agreement (PMI) are a priority in the transformations of the National Development Plan (PND) 2023-2026.
How is progress being made on the main points of the Agreement? How many resources are allocated to this purpose?
After establishing that the implementation process of the Peace Agreement has not had the proper state responses and that substantive aspects of the planned reforms are without significant achievements, the National Development Plan 2023-2026 includes actions and financial resources for the recovery of the integrity of the goals outlined in the Peace Agreement.
How many resources are allocated for this purpose?
To facilitate and ensure the implementation and regulatory development of the Final Agreement to end the conflict and build a stable and lasting peace, 50.4 billion pesos were included in the Pluri-Annual Investment Plan of the National Development Plan (PND).
How many articles does the Plan have?
Nearly 1,000 proposals for articles were received, which were made viable in 300 articles according to their reasonableness, transparency, fiscal impact, legal authorization and respecting the principles of unity of matter, legality and adjustment to the constitution.
Recommended readings:
Congress approves the National Development Plan, “Colombia, world power of life”
Plan Nacional de Desarrollo, Infografias
Departamento Nacional de Planeacion
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