The Chargé d'affaires for the U.S. Embassy of Bogota Francisco Palmieri and Acting Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Gloria Juliana Bustamante Reyes convened the second Annual Dialogue of the U.S.-Colombia Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnership on September 25 and 26, 2024.
The CPC Partnership is a jointly developed, multi-year plan signed in 2022 to strengthen the Government of Colombia's efforts to combat child trafficking and meet the needs of child survivors and children at risk of being victimized by this crime. Responding to the specific context of Colombia, the CPC Partnership focuses on ending four crimes: child sex trafficking in the context of tourism; online sexual exploitation of children ("webcam modeling") amounting to sex trafficking; forced child begging; and forced child recruitment into illicit armed groups.
To date, the U.S. Government has invested over $10 million in foreign assistance for civil society partners in Colombia to implement projects for this CPC Partnership. The Colombian government collaborates in implementing CPC activities and has invested in complementary efforts toward achieving CPC Partnership objectives.
At the event, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior, and Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, delivered remarks. Civil society implementing partners, the American Bar Association-Rule of Law Initiative (ABA-ROLI), Fundación Renacer, Pan American Development Foundation (PADF), and research institution NORC also participated in the discussion.
The CPC Annual Dialogue is an important opportunity to reflect on implementation progress to date, confirm plans for upcoming activities, and discuss performance indicators and related targets, as identified in the U.S.-Colombia CPC Implementation Plan. These indicators serve as benchmarks for long-term impact and sustainability of investments made through the CPC Partnership.
