Nearly 260,000 members of the Military Forces will be trained to guarantee the rights of children, adolescents and young people.
33 percent of members of the Military Forces are young people by the ages of 18 and 25 and will be trained to protect Colombian youth.
The National Government, headed by the President of the Republic, Iván Duque, presented at the National Police Cadet School, General Francisco de Paula Santander, the Training program for the Military Forces in guaranteeing the rights of children, adolescents and youth, to be carried out by the Ministry of National Defence in partnership with the Colombian Family Wellbeing Institute (ICBF) and the presidential councils for Children, Adolescents and Youth; it is a program that is part of the Colombia Pact with Youth.
During his speech, the minister of Defence, Diego Molano Aponte, highlighted that this is a coordinated effort of the national Government "to our soldiers and police officers who are young people willing to take care of the young people who are demonstrating in the streets, take care of the young people that do not manifest, and who, as those do, think, feel, and dream of a better Colombia."
That is why this national training program is part of the modernization process of the Ministry of Defense and will focus on the training of 258,405 members of the Military Forces, including officers, noncommissioned officers, executive level personnel, patrol personnel, soldiers, navy men and police auxiliaries.
This strategy will be carried out under the virtual and traditional modality, which leads to reach the entire national territory. The program will begin in the months of September, October and November 2021 and will extend to 2022.
"We were already on the road. One of my first acts as Minister of Defense, just a few months ago, was to launch, on March 11, the Education Policy for the Military Forces (2021 – 2026), which has a rigorous component of training in the protection of human rights for soldiers and police officers," Molano said.
The Ministry of National Defence bases its action on the training of men and women with a high ethical sense capable of internalizing Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law with the physical and cognitive skills necessary to face every security and defence challenge in the country.
This strategy is part of the Education Policy for the Military Forces 2021 – 2026: Towards a special and quality education, particularly in the lines of leadership and integrated development of military and police officers, strengthening learning strategies and design of theoretical and awareness strategies to prevent deceitful behaviors by promoting the values and principles in the military Forces.
"This is NOT an isolated effort but a government effort that involves the first lady, the ICBF, SENA (national learning service) and the presidential councils for children, adolescents and youth," said the head of the ministry of Defense.
In compliance with their constitutional duty, the Military Forces and the National Police are committed to education, training and instruction processes aimed at the respect, promotion and guarantee of Human Rights and the implementation of the norms of International Humanitarian Law, thus their members have the obligation to respect and protect the rights of civilians.
This year, 151,458 members of the Military Forces have been trained in Human rights.
Actions are the framework for the Program
The training strategy includes six actions that seek to strengthen theoretical - practical learning strategies to ensure the internalization of leadership and the comprehensive development of the educational Resources of the Military Forces.
First action: Virtual Learning Object (OVA in Spanish) and workshops on Promotion and guarantee of the Rights of Children, Adolescents and Young People and Prevention of Forced Recruitment in partnership with the ICBF.
Second action: the Ministry of National Defence, in order to strengthen the education of men and women in the Military Forces, jointly designed a course entitled Integrity with All Forces, whose aim is to strengthen skills in the areas of human rights, gender and transparency, which will make it possible to expand the resources of the Military Forces in the care of Colombian civilians.
This course will be carried out through OVA and traditional workshops
Third action: Virtual Diploma on the Promotion and Guarantee of the Rights of Children, Adolescents and Young People in partnership with ICBF.
Fourth action: Training the instructors of the Training Units in partnership with SENA.
Fifth action: Strengthening and technical follow-up to the Human Rights tracks “Learning by doing” and strengthening the infrastructure of the Training Units.
Sixth action: Virtual course on fundamentals of Integrity in Defense and Security in alliance with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO.
Within the framework of the NATO Individual Partnership Cooperation Program (IPCP) NATO 2019, the cooperation relationship conducted by Colombia and NATO is leading the strengthening of operational and support Resources (mission areas) through military and police education and training.
With this strategy in 2021, 93,897 members of the Military Forces of the Military and National Police will be trained, and it is planned to train 164,508 members of the Military Forces in 2022.
The event in the same way counted on the participation of Daniel Palacios, minister of the Interior; María Victoria Angulo, minister of Education; the commanders of the Military Forces, the director of the National Police; Carolina Salgado, Presidential counselor for the Childhood and Adolescence; Nancy Patricia Gutiérrez, Presidential counselor for Human Rights and International Affairs; Juan Sebastián Arango, Presidential adviser for Youth; Margarita Cabello Blanco, Attorney General of the Nation; Carlos Camargo, the Ombudsman and Carlos Mario Estrada Molina, Director General SENA Colombia.
Source: Defence Sector Communications Office – Ministry of National Defence
