Source: National Statistical Office, SISPRO. April -2018.

106.A Clinical Safety Model for Emergency Obstetric Care is being implemented throughout the country. All departments and primary data units have mandatory epidemiological surveillance for extreme maternal morbidities under the National Public Health Monitoring System. Great attention is paid to training in clinical safety procedures and strategies to prevent extreme maternal morbidity; dissemination of the toolkit for the model in national meetings and local technical visits; and the delivery of supplies for emergency obstetric care.

107.The actions of the Colombian State to reduce unsafe abortion and promote the right to reproductive self-determination for women, through the Ministry of Health, include the promotion of comprehensive advisory work, the delivery of information on voluntary termination of pregnancy and assurance of service delivery throughout the country under a differential and rights-based approach. The following progress has been made in that area:

•Adoption of the maternal and perinatal care scheme, which aims to ensure access to voluntary termination of pregnancy.

•Provision of abortion services (medical and biopsychosocial) within the health system, independent of affiliation regime.

•Additional Ministry of Health tools related to the voluntary termination of pregnancy, such as the health sector protocol to the document for the prevention of unsafe abortion; technical guidelines on abortion aftercare and complications; technical guidelines on the comprehensive care of voluntary termination of pregnancy at the first level of complexity; and technical guidelines on orientation and advice related to voluntary termination of pregnancy.

•Dissemination of information materials on the right of women and girls to decide on voluntary termination and information on measures to implement the protocol to prevent unsafe abortion, especially in rural, indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.

•Intersectoral activities and technical assistance for the various subnational health directorates.

108.To implement Decision No. 1904/2017, a plan was designed and put into effect with the following developments: awareness-raising regarding the decision among key players in the general health and social security system; the design and dissemination, among subnational entities, insurers and service providers at the departmental and district levels, of tools related to the decision; a website on the sexual and reproductive rights of persons with disabilities; linkage of the provisions of the decision on sexual and reproductive health care to the comprehensive road maps related to care for the promotion and maintenance of health for the maternal and perinatal population.

109.As part of the monitoring of sterilization procedures received by persons with disabilities, between 2017 and July 2018, 843 persons received medical procedures related to sterilization. Of those, 758 were women and 85 were men. It should be noted that compared with previous years there has been a decrease in this practice.

Rural women

110.With a view to the adoption of the Comprehensive Public Policy on Rural Women, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Presidential Council for Women’s Equity are making significant efforts to strengthen the participation of women living in the Colombian countryside in the formulation of the policy. In that respect, the following steps are being taken:

•Design of and consultation and awareness-raising regarding the methodology for the participation of women through focus groups organized in four departments (Boyacá, Tolima, Guaviare and Cundinamarca).

•Process to strengthen leadership and the presentation of policy proposals in four departments (Guajira, Nariño, Chocó and Cauca) through the design and piloting of a game-based pedagogical tool that facilitates the participation of women with low levels of literacy. The process was supported by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and concluded with the implementation of the pedagogical module on searches, decisions and learning for the participation of rural women.

•The above-mentioned processes involved representatives of 200 national and subnational organizations of rural women and 120 public officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations and international cooperation agencies.

111.With support provided through international cooperation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has developed public policy guidelines for rural women, which are being revised in order to be disseminated and refined by interested actors. The guidelines will be an indispensable tool for the development of the Comprehensive Public Policy on Rural Women.

112.The Directorate of Rural Women of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has been strengthened through an increase in personnel to the current level of 15 staff members. The team receives technical assistance (from the European Union, UN-Women and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) to build its capacities and respond appropriately to the requirements and needs of rural women.

113.In Decree No. 2145/2017, article 34 of Act No. 731/2002 was regulated; a plan for the review, assessment and follow-up of programmes for rural women was adopted; and an inter-institutional committee to follow up on the plan was established. The Committee’s work includes consideration of the participation of rural women from the perspective of their diversity and fosters the coordination and promotion of programmes and laws to benefit such women. The process for selecting women to be members of the Committee is currently being defined.

114.Pursuant to Act No. 1753/2015, the Colombian State is obliged to ensure the participation of rural women in policy development. Therefore, during the design of the methodology for the participation of rural women in the formulation of the public policy on such women, between October and January 2018, workshops were conducted in eight departments, with the participation of representatives of national and subnational rural women’s organizations; public servants; non-governmental organizations; and international cooperation bodies.

115.In 2018, Act No. 1900 was adopted, establishing criteria for gender equality in the award of wasteland, rural housing and productive projects. Under the Act, priority is given to rural women in the initiatives developed by the National Lands Agency, with special emphasis on those living in poverty and marginalization and female heads of household.

116.Decision No. 740/2017, regulating plans for the social organization of land, provides for the mainstreaming of a differential approach to ensure participation and the availability, accessibility, quality and acceptability of land rights in Colombia. A community participation strategy entitled “Seedbed of land and territory” was launched to encourage people to support, promote and accelerate such plans. Eleven meetings have been held to raise communities’ awareness regarding women’s rights to land.

117.Decree-Law No. 902/2017 establishes objective rules for the registration of subjects of social organization of land and establishes measures to obtain higher scores and better positions for rural women beneficiaries of programmes to allocate land in line with established criteria.

118.For the land survey, the technical teams are trained so that, during visits to a property, they can recognize and guarantee women’s land rights by asking about the direct exploitation of the land by the women on that property, including those in the care economy, and reiterating the importance of both men and women actively participating in visits.

119.Through Decision No. 4180/2018, the National Lands Agency established a coordinating unit for gender equity and rural women to promote gender mainstreaming in planning, implementation and evaluation.

120.The Agency encourages the principles of voluntariness, self-nomination and access, in addition to the participation of beneficiaries in all phases of comprehensive agricultural and rural development projects, including formulation and implementation. The projects are regulated by Agreement No. 007/2017.

Migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee women

121.The Government of Colombia is working to redesign its comprehensive migration policy. The policy sets out general guidelines and institutional coordination forums to regulate, in line with human rights guarantees, such matters as foreigners’ arrival and stay in and departure from the national territory; nationals’ arrival in and departure from the national territory; and the administrative procedures for migration.

122.If girl and adolescent migrants, asylum-seekers or refugees have their rights threatened or violated, the competent administrative authority begins a process to ensure the effective restoration of their rights in coordination with the various entities that make up the national family welfare system.

123.To ensure adequate protection and assistance for migrant women in cases of gender-based violence involving girls and adolescents, the Children and Adolescents’ Code establishes that its provisions apply to all national or foreign children and adolescents within the national territory. Therefore, the Government of Colombia guarantees their protection and assistance through the Colombian Family Welfare Institute.

Marriage and family relations

124.The Colombian Family Welfare Institute supported Bill No. 006/2015, which expired and was shelved. The Institute will continue to support the initiative and give its determined backing to actions to guarantee the sexual and reproductive rights of children and adolescents.

125.In order to protect girls under the age of 18 who have been permitted to marry, the technical guidelines for the care of children and adolescents whose rights are threatened or violated provide tools for care, support and the coordination of efforts. The tools have been strengthened through the implementation of recently adopted policies (see para. 93 above).

126.To change cultural attitudes to early marriage, the Colombian Family Welfare Institute is developing various mechanisms for the provision of differential care to ethnic peoples with components that are essential for strengthening families and forums for organization and decision-making. The work being carried out jointly with families and communities helps to build forums for dialogue, knowledge-sharing, intercultural learning and support for processes aimed at strengthening the organizational capacities of communities as the foundation for ensuring their autonomy, which will change cultural attitudes to early marriage.

127.The Colombian Family Welfare Institute participates in the technical committee convened by UNICEF, UN-Women and the United Nations Population Fund in relation to the inter-institutional and inter-agency joint programme to eradicate child marriage and early unions in Colombia.

128.During the Andean week for the prevention of teenage pregnancy, which was held in Colombia in September 2018, child marriage and early union issues were included as the focus of discussion regarding advances in educational processes that would end the normalization of gender-based violence and child marriage and early unions, which are decisive in terms of the causes and effects of adolescent pregnancy.

Disaster risk reduction and climate change

129.In Colombia, a gender perspective was incorporated into the national climate change adaptation plan through the document entitled “Priority lines of action for climate change adaptation”, which sets out the need to analyse measures with a differential approach from such perspectives as, inter alia, gender, age groups and disability.

130.With regard to the inclusion of women in the processes and instruments for disaster risk management, article 3, paragraph 1, of Act No. 1523/2012 defines equality as a guiding principle in risk management.

131.A strategic objective of the 2015–2025 national plan for disaster risk management is the strengthening of governance, education and social communication in risk management from a differential, gender-sensitive perspective that respects cultural diversity, through the recognition of protection and gender equality in all processes of citizen participation for the implementation of the national disaster risk management policy.

132.The national plan for disaster risk management proposes the following actions to which a gender perspective is applicable: training for entities of the national disaster risk management system in the design, implementation and evaluation of risk management strategies with a differential, gender-sensitive approach that respects cultural diversity; and guidelines for the incorporation of a differential risk management approach.