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Assessing Cost-effectiveness in Reintegrating Ex-combatants in Colombia

In: Infrastructure, Morality, Food and Clothing, and New Developments in Latin America

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  • Colleen Alena O'Brien

Abstract

This study examines the cost-effectiveness of reintegrating ex-combatants from armed groups in Colombia. After an ethnographic exploration of the challenges of reintegration that ex-combatants face, I evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the reintegration program operated by the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (Agencia para la Reincorporación y la Normalización, ARN), the government agency that handles the reintegration of ex-combatants from all armed groups in Colombia. I analyze the agency's approaches (past, current, and proposed) toward reintegrating ex-combatants from various armed groups, comparing the financial costs against outcomes. The ARN has been successful at achieving two of its primary goals: minimizing recidivism and maximizing employment of ex-combatants. Only 10% of ARN program participants rejoin criminal groups and 93% find employment across both the formal and informal sectors (informal employment is widespread in Colombia and Latin America). The ARN has been unsuccessful at providing adequate security for ex-combatants. Approximately 6% of ex-combatants enrolled in the ARN program have been murdered since 2001: approximately 3,000 program participants have been assassinated. Next, I evaluate the cost-effectiveness of both the ARN's overall program and its outcome across different regions and demographics of the participant population. Finally, I suggest ways that other countries facing the challenge of reintegrating populations of ex-combatants can learn from the Colombian experience, as well as ways that Colombia can improve its own reintegration cost-effectiveness.

Suggested Citation

  • Colleen Alena O'Brien, 2021. "Assessing Cost-effectiveness in Reintegrating Ex-combatants in Colombia," Research in Economic Anthropology, in: Infrastructure, Morality, Food and Clothing, and New Developments in Latin America, volume 41, pages 217-252, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:reanzz:s0190-128120210000041010
    DOI: 10.1108/S0190-128120210000041010
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