Colombia

Participatory planning and participatory budgeting are eminently local processes, whether it comes from departmental or municipal levels of government. These initiatives are regulated by national laws, specifically in Law 152 of 1994, Law 1551 of 2012 and Law 1757 of 2015. The 152 law of 1994 “through which it is established the Organic Law for the development plan” defines the content of the development plans; the times for the presentation, discussion and approval; and also creates the National Planning Council and the territorial planning councils. These citizen participation areas should issue a concept about the development of the plans before their presentation to the Congress, the departmental assembly or the municipal council and as well as prepare the annual reports regarding the following of the processes. Concerning Participatory Budgeting, law 1551 of 2012 “which dictates the rules for the modernization of the organization and the functioning of the municipalities” indicates that the municipal or district councils can create in order to support the social investment in the districts, communes and localities, a participatory budgeting that allows citizens to deliberate and decide about the distribution of a percentage of the municipal budget, through the JAL and assigned to their respective communes, districts and localities, following the national and municipal regulations regarding the planning, budgeting and contracting according to the Municipal Development Plan (art 40). The 1757 law of 2015 “which directs matters related to the promotion and protection of the right to democratic participation” presents a definition of participatory budgeting, it’s purposes and monitoring mechanisms (arts 90 - 93. It also points out that governments of territorial entities, previously mentioned in the Constitution and the law can also development participatory budgeting experiences, in which the citizens can decide the allocation percentage of the municipal resources, that the respective authorities autonomously define according to the objects of the Development Plan (art 100). Additionally, section 2.2.y of the “Final Agreement for the Termination of Conflict and the Construction of the Stable and Lasting Peace” establishes five issues on which development is required in order to promote the participation on participatory planning and participatory budgeting:

1. Review the functions and formation of the Territorial Planning Councils;
2. Provide technical assistance to the municipal and departmental authorities that require it in order to create different planning tools;
3. Review of the participation system in the planning processes and, specifically on:

   a. Articulation between territorial and national planning entities;

   b. Composition and functioning of the National Planning Council to ensure a wide-ranging and pluralistic representation;

   c. System effectiveness.

4. Strengthen the institutional designs and methodology in order to facilitate the citizen participation and ensure its effectiveness in the social public policies formulation;
5. Strengthen and stimulate the implementation of gender participatory budgeting perspective and women’s rights at the local level to:

   a. Promote the participation of men and women during the prioritization phase of the investment budget, so it can reflect the conclusions of the participatory planning practices;

   b. Create incentives for the creation and execution of Participatory Budgeting experiences;

   c. Promote monitoring mechanisms and accountability on Participatory Budgeting practices.

On the other hand, more than 50 departmental and municipal regulatory instruments on participatory budgeting in the country have been identified.

2019 has not been the best year for PB processes in Colombia and, in general, for citizen participation. Even before Duque’s possession, the political sector he represents was going further in the limitation of participation mechanisms, such as the popular consultation, the prior consultation and the mobilization and social protest. Neither had been any progress regarding the normative implementation of the Peace Agreement mandates in relation to participatory budgeting and participatory planning. On the other hand, in October of the respective year, municipal and departmental elections will be held. Hence, the current governments are in their last year of management. Despite all of this, there are two important innovative experiences that have taken place since 2017. The first concerns to a methodological breakthrough in the municipalities of Valle de Aburrá (Antioquia), particularly in Sabaneta, who implemented a virtual platform open to all citizens so they propose and prioritize projects and also define the amount of resources that would be allocated for financing. The second one refers to a process that took place in the Risaralda department. The Government along with the Colombian Family Welfare Institute and the Technological University of Pereira design and applied a participatory budgeting experiences focus on children and teenagers, including a special component in which kids from six year old were involved.

Despite the general weakening of the process, it’s identified that some participatory budgeting practices are still being executed, mainly those related to infrastructure and neighborhood improvements and with pedagogical components. No progress has been made regarding the terms or possibilities that presents the Peace Agreement in participatory budgeting matter, especially about the substitution of illicit crops.