Colombia Government News: The Bioceanic Resolution, Economic & Safe Reactivation, The National Vaccination Plan and International Relations.

The Colombian Embassy in Kenya presents a summary of the most important news in our country. For this mission, delivering this information to our main allies is a clear example of the political, social, and economic ties between Colombia and East Africa.

If you wish to have more details about the information sent, the doors of our embassy are open to discuss and broaden the topics of interest.

Mónica de Greiff

Ambassador of Colombia in Kenya  

 

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN COLOMBIA?

 

MARCH 29-2022

BIOCEANIC FORUM

• With an urgent call for global collective action for the conservation of the oceans in a comprehensive and sustainable manner, the Vice President and Chancellor, Marta Lucía Ramírez, installed on March 23 the International Forum of Bioceanic Countries 2022, which will take place in Cartagena, with the virtual participation of President Iván Duque and Maritime Authorities from around the world.

• This event is conducive to exchanging experiences and showing the leadership that Colombia is having on environmental sustainability issues, in order to formulate a roadmap that allows the foundation of development in the potentialities of the oceans and advancement in the fulfillment of the goals of the 2030 Agenda.

BIOCEANIC PROPOSALS.

Among proposals is that both countries and multilateral organizations articulate commitments to prevent the deterioration of the oceans from representing a risk of conflict and violence in the future and hence:

        i.            Recognize children as the main allies for conservation and sustainability, without prejudice to strengthening institutions and governance;

      ii.            Inject resources and financing to programs and projects related to the oceans and condition multilateral credits to encourage the circular economy;

    iii.            Work for the associativity of the fishing communities to improve their income and quality of life.

• The Forum, which included the participation of maritime authorities from Australia, Costa Rica, Norway, Egypt, Spain, Chile, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Panama, the United States, and the United Kingdom, was the appropriate space to exchange experiences and show Colombia's leadership in environmental sustainability in compliance with the goals of the 2030 Agenda.

 

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

• With the World Government Summit in Dubai, the Vice President and Chancellor, Marta Lucía Ramírez, began her agenda in the United Arab Emirates. Global experts and decision-makers from around the world met on March 28 to share and contribute to the development of tools, policies, and models for future governments.

• The senior official also visited the Colombian Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai and will hold a meeting with the Colombian community in that country. On Tuesday, March 29, the Vice President and Chancellor, Marta Lucía Ramírez, will participate in the Annual Investment Meeting, a debate among global leaders to improve the attraction of foreign investment in vital and promising sectors in light of new global trends.

• In Abu Dhabi, on March 30, the Vice President and Chancellor, Marta Lucía Ramírez, will hold an important meeting with executives from Masdar City, and she will visit the Smart City Complex, the world's first city specially designed to be ecological and self-sufficient.

• The 23 objectives defined in the Compact contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by facilitating safe, orderly, and regular migration, by strengthening migration governance, and the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.

Likewise, she highlighted Colombia's determination to regularize more than 1.8 million migrants through the Temporary Protection Statute for Venezuelan Migrants, a worldwide example in terms of protection, reception, and integration of massive flows of people who have had to flee their country.

•Based on the principles of solidarity and humanity, this migration policy recognizes that migration is not a unilateral issue and that the best way to manage it at the regional and global levels is through cooperation based on the guiding principle of shared responsibility; giving visibility to the drivers of migration and defining public policies based on the vision and guiding principles of the Global Compact.

• Likewise, the Colombian migration policy is a reflection of the deep commitment of Colombia as a precursor country to the implementation of the Global Compact and is the basis of the active participation of Colombia in the context of migration governance, facing the first Review Forum of the International Migration that will take place from May 17 to 20, 2022 in New York, and in which Colombia will formally present its commitments for the effective implementation of the Compact, including:

        i.            Financial contribution to the International Organization for Migration (IOM),

      ii.            The implementation and socialization of the Temporary Protection Statute and the Comprehensive Migration Policy of the Colombian State, and

    iii.            The strengthening of technical cooperation exchanges on migration management in Colombia.

• Colombia received a donation of 2.3 million Pfizer vaccines, during a ceremonial act held on March 22, with the participation of senior officials of the national government and representatives of the German government.

• President Iván Duque, and the Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mathias Cormann, inaugurated on March 24 in Cartagena the fourth edition of the Skills Summit 2022 of this International organization.

• Colombia is proud to be the first Latin American country to host an event of this magnitude. The fourth Skills Summit, with the theme 'Strengthening skills for equity and sustainability, had the participation of ministers, ambassadors, and experts from 38 countries of the Organization and 7 world organizations.

• The Colombian President invited the member countries of the OECD to unite “two concepts, sustainability, and technology, to become one that we can call SosTECnibility, where the use of skills in science, technology, and innovation be included to our societies as efforts to quickly and dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality.

• Of 50 successful practices in the world on educational management during the pandemic, five emerged from Colombia, highlighted by the OECD

This is stated in the report called 'How Learning Continued during the COVID-19 Pandemic' released by the OECD on March 25.

• During the closing of the Fourth Skills Summit 2022, of this Organization, President Duque confirmed that Colombia was the country in Latin America with the best program and management of education during the coronavirus pandemic, and one of the most outstanding in the world.

• The five Colombian practices that are part of the OECD report are:

       I.            The work of the Educational Alliance;

    II.            A Prender la Onda (ALO), from the Enseña por Colombia group;

 III.            Learn at Home, from the Secretary of Education of Bogotá;

 IV.            The platforms of the Ministry of Digital Learning and Master Contact; and

    V.            'My hands teach you, from the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF).

• The OECD report highlights that the Ministry of National Education provided a wide variety of free educational resources to the educational community, through its 'Learn Digital' platform. Resources are available in various formats, from articles and newspapers to interactive 3D games, e-books, digital libraries, video lessons, audiobooks and videos, and virtual learning objects, offering options to continue with distance learning.

 

ECONOMIC AND SAFE REACTIVATION

• Colombia celebrates the recognition of the Oscar Awards for Best Animated Film awarded to Encanto, a production that has made it possible to show the world the cultural richness, natural wealth, and traditions of our country. The 94th Academy Awards took place in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 27, 2022

• A story that highlights our great cultural diversity, identity, and tradition, was the winner of the 2022 Academy Awards. We congratulate the fantastic team that made this production possible for our country.

• The Ministry of Culture and ProColombia, among others, expressed their pride at the Oscar Award for the film inspired by our country.

“The name of Colombia, our culture, our music, and our landscapes are now seen more strongly throughout the world. “The ministry stated.

• Recognition is one more reason to continue traveling and discovering every corner of Colombia and an invitation to nationals and foreigners in the world to discover the magic of Colombia.

• On March 28, the opening of ProColombia's Macro-Round 90 commenced, a space to identify business opportunities, growth, and opening of our products to new markets; where 1,000 buyers from 50 countries and 2,000 Colombian businessmen will participate. It will be held in Medellín and Cali with the hope to exceed sales expectations for the 2021 edition.

-During our Government we have accompanied 5,504 companies to export more than USD20 billion, with 18,646 buyers from 177 countries.

• According to figures revealed by the National Department of Statistics (DANE), in January 2022 Colombia’s economy grew by 7.8% compared to the same month of the previous year, mainly driven by the commerce and industry sectors. We continue to work as a team for the safe reactivation and generation of employment in our country.

• Exports of services and non-mining energy goods exceed the goal defined for 2021. In 2021, exports of the non-mining energy basket of Colombia (goods + services) totaled US$25,827 million, which means an increase of 26.5% compared to 2020.

• A caravan of six trucks with videos on the country's biodiversity and gastronomic and musical richness toured Times Square, Central Park, Radio City Music Hall, among other iconic areas of New York, to explain why Colombia is the most welcoming country in the world.

• This initiative, led by ProColombia, joins the activation of the Country Manifesto in the main airports of Colombia, by means of which international travelers are welcomed to the Most Welcoming Country, with large-format images, located in the Migration points, and a symbolic stamp in the passport.

 

 

NATIONAL VACCINATION PLAN

• Thanks to the progress of our National Vaccination Plan, we exceeded 80.5 million doses applied and more than 10 million people have received their booster vaccine. It is with facts that this purpose of the country advances and as well have a new goal fulfilled.

• According to the Colombian Ministry of Health, as of March 26, 2022 (11:59 pm), the country had 80,531,597 doses applied throughout the country, and 34,714,553 people have their complete vaccination schedule.

 

OUTSTANDING ECONOMIC NEWS

• Colombia will export more barrels of oil to the United States due to the war in Ukraine. The Minister of Mines and Energy, Diego Mesa, assured that Colombia could supply part of the US oil demand.

• In line with the environmental commitments and the roadmaps that Colombia and the world have drawn up in this regard, the energy transition is a reality and the next governments must adapt their objectives to the search for less dependence on conventional energy sources and a greater incentive to clean sources. Oil dependency will drop to 32% and electricity dependency will rise to 33% by 2050.

 

For further information, please contact César Castro:

cesar.castro@cancilleria.gov.co