Colombia is a partner country of German Development Cooperation. GTZ has been supporting technical cooperation projects there since 1965 on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

For over 40 years, there has been a state of armed conflict between government forces, paramilitary actors and various guerrilla groups. Human rights violations, drug trafficking, lack of law enforcement, corruption, everyday crime, social injustice and the lack of effective state structures are key elements in the complex conflict situation which is seriously hampering the country’s development.

In these circumstances, German Development Cooperation is concentrating on two priority areas agreed with the Colombian Government:

• Peace development

The projects on decentralisation and communal development, promoting the rule of law, citizens' participation for peace, and the sustainable use of natural resources aim to improve the framework conditions and thus eliminate structural causes of conflict and promote mechanisms of nonviolent conflict resolution. In this process, GTZ specifically gears its concepts and instruments to achieving development results.