Although the Government of Colombia typically investigates allegations of human rights violations, its budget does not allocate enough funds to promote human rights and prevent violations; consequently, the Government of the United States instead will continue to force U.S. taxpayers to pay for such endeavors.
Indeed, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is about to embark upon Round Three of such efforts. Management Sciences for Development, Inc., the contractor carrying out Human Rights Program II, or HRP II, is nearing completion of its obligations under a five-year, $38.8 million contract. The next phase, known as HRP III (Solicitation # SOL-514-11-000005), will build upon previous successes, according to USAID, and will shift focus on “addressing the needs of those groups disproportionately affected by human rights violations, and/or which have become increasingly vulnerable in the shifting context of the conflict.” According to the HRP III Statement of Work (SOW), such groups include:
indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, women, children and youth, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) community, human rights activists, journalists, labor union members, and victims of the armed conflict.
The agency did not disclose an estimated cost for HRP III.
The U.S. over the past decade "provided more than $6 billion in assistance under Plan Colombia, including more than $1 billion in economic and social assistance," the SOW says.
