Public Policy for the Prevention of Recruitment, Utilization, Use, and Sexual Violence Against, Children and Adolescents by Organized Armed Groups and Organized Criminal Groups

The Presidential Department of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law is an organization that falls under the umbrella of the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic. The department leads, coordinates, and promotes the development of the Comprehensive Human Rights Policy per Article 21 of Decree 2647 of 2022.

The department has developed a policy led by the Presidential Department of Human Rights and International Affairs, in its capacity as the Technical Secretariat of the Intersectoral Commission for the Prevention of Recruitment, Use, and Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents by Illegal Armed Groups and Organized Criminal Groups.

Key elements addressed in this document include the following:

• The document notes that the participation of children and teenagers in armed groups during conflict generates psychological, social, and political impacts in the short, medium and long term, demonstrating that any direct or indirect participation is harmful to minors.
• The document also points out that, according to the pronouncement of the Constitutional Court, the ideal is to ensure that a person under 18 years of age does not form part of any regular or irregular armed force or group, regardless of whether or not they carry weapons or whether their participation is forced or voluntary.
• The document presents, as a central problem, the need for greater recognition of children and adolescents as subjects of rights, emphasizing that Indigenous women, especially girls and adolescents, have experienced different types of sexual violence during the armed conflict, also noting discrimination that occurs against children and adolescents belonging to ethnic communities, peasants, disabled, victims of armed conflict and vulnerable due to poverty and weaknesses in tools for the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents in their living spaces.