On May 20, the presentation of the students of the 2nd Course of National Humanitarian Demining Monitors for the year 2024 took place at the School of Military Engineers (ESING). The students were transferred to the facilities of the General Command of the Military Forces (COGFM) and were welcomed by Colonel of the Colombian National Army José Luis Bastidas Moreno, Head of the Joint Operations Department of the General Command of the Colombian Military Forces, who addressed the importance of the National Monitors Course in the context of Humanitarian Demining activities in Colombia.
The Training Course is the result of the Cooperation and Technical Assistance Agreement between the IADB Board and the COGFM of Colombia carried out under the responsibility of the Group of Inter-American Technical Advisors (GATICO), one of the operational arms of the IADB in South America.
The National Monitors course aims to prepare soldiers from the Colombian Military Forces to carry out monitoring which is, together with accreditation and post-clearance inspection, an essential requirement to guarantee the restitution of lands with quality and safety to the civilian population without have suspicion of Antipersonnel Mines and Improvised Explosive Devices, in accordance with International and National Standards.
The course is in the ESING Academic Offering where the requirements of the Army Education System are met and will last approximately two months. It will be attended by eight students, seven from the Colombian National Army and one from the Colombian National Navy. Currently, the IADB and the COGFM, through the GATI-CO, have already taught twenty-three courses with a total of two hundred and forty approved students, using all reasonable efforts in the training of military personnel.
Thus, the Inter-American Defense Board and the General Command of the Military Forces, with the support of the School of Military Engineers and, through the Inter-American Technical Advisory Group, cooperate to increase human capacity to confront the threats of the scourges of Antipersonnel Mines and Improvised Explosive Devices that affect millions of people daily, whether in the economic or psychosocial sphere of the countries of South America, in the constant struggle to make territories free and safe.
