USAID Public Policy Program Quarterly Report – Q4

The program has been reporting activities and accomplishments obtained on its fourth quarter of implementation. During the first year, the program faced numerous challenges, most significantly, the need to adapt to the new government's policy agenda. The Program and USAID re-evaluated the results and activities established in the original contract work plan and made changes to reflect the new priorities of the Santos Administration and USAID. A modification to the contract was proposed to USAID to meet the needs of the government and USAID priorities. The modification will eliminate the 6 Components of the contract and consolidate the new efforts into three Pillars of Land, Victims, and Consolidation. The program achieved several important results during the Fourth Quarter. It supported public dialogue and the drafting of five Laws under Components 3 and 4 that are being submitted by GOC to Congress for legislative approval. These Laws include affirmative action procedures for Afro-Colombian communities, the implementation of the UN Convention of Persons with Disabilities, two laws that reform the budget process and improve transparency in the budget process, and a law that promotes public-private partnerships. Since the contract started, the Public Policy Program has supported 15 laws, exceeding the target of 16 Laws over the life of project. In the next quarter, GOC will submit to Congress another three laws that have been supported by the Program, including the Land and Rural Development Law, the Royalties Regime Law, the Electronic Transactions Law, and the Access to Finance Law. The Program also supported eight decrees issued by the GOC, two institutional reforms, and the design of six policy instruments. Prominent among the various support provided to draft the decrees is the program's significant support to the implementation of the Victims' Law. One of the decrees implements the Victims' Law for Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Communities, while the other decree regulates the implementation of the Victims Comprehensive Care and Relief Plan for victims. The Public Policy Program has established synergies with other USAID Programs to facilitate implementation of GOC policies at the sub-national level and to improve service delivery in USAID priority areas and promote state presence in Consolidation Zones. The program has explained the GOC reforms and discussed how these reforms can be implemented immediately. Similarly, the Program has reviewed bottlenecks faced by USAID programs in the field to identify policy solution needs. The Policy Program continued supporting GOC by providing technical assistance in the development of land strategies, policies, and legal reforms to achieve four long-term (10-15 years) GOC objectives. These objectives include formalizing and protecting the property of families with small landholdings, reinstating property to victims of land seizure by illegally armed groups, providing access to prime arable land through more efficient land markets and well-designed subsidies for poor landless farmers and conflict-affected populations, and designing a comprehensive rural development policy to generate sustainable livelihoods and income opportunities for restituted and other rural communities. The Policy Program has frontloaded the land policy component activities to be responsive to the existing window of opportunities and the political momentum created by the government to address land and rural development issues. However, the program has faced several challenges, including the coordination of the Special Administrative Unit for Land Restitution with other entities that must address victims' issues, providing security to victims, and coordinating restitution processes established by the Victims' Law with existing Justice and Peace processes and administrative processes.