Another 93 displaced families and victims of land dispossession
have received the title deeds to their lands as part of three pilot
projects focusing on land restitution being implemented with IOM
support in Montes de María in northern Colombia.

The projects, which are being developed by the National
Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation (NCRR) with funding
from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and
technical assistance from IOM, facilitated the handover of 202
titles deeds to rural families between 2009 and 2010.

As the families were given the deeds, the Colombian government
announced a new income-generating programme that would benefit a
further 62 families in the same area and the local economy.

About 320 hectares of land have been purchased with funds from
the Colombian government to allow the families to grow cocoa,
melons, corn, yams and tobacco.  With technical support and
funding from USAID, IOM and the private sector, the 62 families
will receive agricultural training and financial support to raise
their monthly income from an estimated USD 150 to some USD 600 a
month until land production can fully sustain them.

Montes de María has endured more than three decades of
violence perpetrated by guerrilla groups and members of the
self-defence forces.  The small community of El Salado, where
the 62 families are based, has experienced numerous incursions by
armed groups and in 2000, saw one of the worst massacres in the
region when more than 60 people were killed.

Other land restitution projects are taking place in Turbo
(Department of Antioquia) where 34 land title deeds were handed
over in September 2010 and in Chenge, a settlement in the
municipality of Ovejas (Department of Sucre) which will benefit
more than 300 people.

"Both the land restitution and income generation projects prove
that rural development initiatives complement each other and will
help rebuild areas that have been severely affected by violence.
IOM will continue to provide support to this process led by the
Colombian government," said IOM Chief of Mission in Colombia,
Marcelo Pisani.

In September 2010, IOM and the Ministry of Agriculture signed a
cooperation agreement on technical assistance for the drafting of a
national plan for Land Restitution; the creation of a National Land
System; a programme for formalizing rural land ownership; support
for the formulation, management and execution of the Land Law and
the creation of rural development programmes and institutional
strengthening of entities in the agricultural sector.

More than three million Colombians have been forced to leave
behind their homes and land through armed violence. Through its
Land Restitution Policy, the Colombian government hopes to hand
back some two million hectares to the victims of violence.

For more information, please contact:

Jorge Gallo

IOM Bogota

Tel: +57 1 639 7777

E-mail: "mailto:jgallo@iom.int">jgallo@iom.int