The Ministry of Equality acknowledges 'operational and administrative difficulties' in implementing the Youth in Peace program.
After dozens of people gathered to protest outside the Ministry of Equality headquarters over the failure to implement the Jóvenes En Paz program, a strategy launched by President Gustavo Petro in February 2024, the ministry acknowledged having identified "operational and administrative difficulties" in its implementation.
"The Vice Ministry of Youth is acting swiftly to overcome these setbacks and ensure the continuity and quality of care for the young people participating in the program," the ministry stated in a press release.
President Gustavo Petro and Vice President Francia Márquez launched the program in 2024. Photo: Vice Presidency
The response from the ministry, currently headed by Carlos Rosero , comes five days after the regional strategy team in Cali ceased operations due to noncompliance with issues such as conditional cash transfers, lack of payments to community kitchens, and work overload, among other factors.
"As faithful believers in the project of change, we believe that the Jóvenes En Paz program has been infiltrated by actors who have historically opposed the country's popular youth and the policies of the national government," they stated in a statement published on May 7.
In this document, they specifically refer to the Temporary Union of Territory and Peace (UT), its legal representative José Monrroy, the Vice Minister of Youth Pablo Zabala and the Uniclaretiana, its main operator.
The program was launched last year by Vice President Francia Márquez. Photo: Ministry of Equality
They also added that the suspension of activities would remain in effect until the end of the non-compliance, payment to the professionals working on the strategy, and guarantees for young people on the four routes offered by the program were guaranteed.
The response of the Ministry of Equality In response, the Ministry of Equality maintains that in recent weeks they have worked together with the Temporary Union to advance the fulfillment of outstanding contractual commitments and guarantee suitable working conditions for collaborators and suppliers responsible for the program's operation.
"Given the circulation of inaccurate information, we reiterate that any official updates on the Jóvenes En Paz program will be communicated exclusively through our institutional channels," they added, in response to rumors about the program's discontinuation.
President Petro with Armando Benedetti at a cabinet meeting. Photo: Presidency
The Jóvenes En Paz program was launched as one of the Petro administration's flagship programs, but at the same time, it became one of the most controversial. Much of the controversy stems from the way the president announced it. "Pay not to kill" was the slogan he chose before its launch.
The program essentially seeks to provide conditional subsidies to young people between the ages of 14 and 28 who find themselves in vulnerable situations due to poverty, violence, and crime.
“We need to start talking about the failure of the Youth in Peace policy. We had proposed 100,000 young people. 432 is nothing. The intention of this policy is to compete with the mafias in attracting young people, so they don't enter into illegal activities. Youth in Peace proposes paying young people to study (...) The magnitude of this program today is Pyrrhic, because the right wing attacked it,” said President Gustavo Petro a week ago during the Council of Ministers.
CAMILO A. CASTILLOPolitical EditorX: (@camiloandres894)
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