Neighbourhood Peacekeeping: The Inter-American Development Bank's Violence Reduction Programs in Colombia and Uruguay
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) incorporated, nearly a decade ago, violence prevention in its lending portfolio. Since the first citizen security project loan was approved, the IDB has accumulated valuable experience on the design and implementation of violence prevention operations, placing the Bank at the forefront of this type of lending in the region. To date, the IDB has financed more than US$150 million for six citizen security loans, technical cooperation projects, and international seminars and meetings. In addition, several other citizen security projects are in advanced stages of design. This report overviews the Bank's work in this area, analysing, based on available data from completed projects, what works and the challenges that remain in reducing and preventing crime and violence. For example, Colombia (Bogotá) and Uruguay have completed their operations with success in the areas of community policing, institutional strengthening, community mediation units, domestic and youth violence prevention, and social awareness campaigns. This report also presents recommendations to maximise benefits and increase the effectiveness of the interventions in future project loans. Despite the accomplishments in this area, it is important to emphasise that crime and violence prevention is not a ‘one shot deal’ but a process that ought to be sustained over time and governments in the region must fully commit to combat it.