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Colombia: The Social Solidarity Network (Red de Solidaridad Social, RSS); whether Soledad Ramirez Saldana of the Office of the Presidency of the Republic (Presidencia de la Republica) was associated with the RSS from 1999 to 2001

According to the English version of the RSS Website:

The Social Solidarity Network was established as a special program in 1994 and in 1997, under Law 368, the Network acquired the status of a national public agency, directly dependent on the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic. As a body designed to execute the State's social policies, it has precedents in the Secretariat for Popular Integration (1982-1986) and in the National Rehabilitation Plan (1986-1994) (14 Sept. 2002a).

In addition, another section of the RSS Website states that:

The Social Solidarity Network ... was created under the Presidency of Colombia, convoking the entire nation to a spirit of solidarity in order to meet the pressing needs of the poorest and most vulnerable members of the community and to facilitate their participation in the country's social programs.

With this concept in mind, the SSN carries out a number of interrelated activities that taken as a whole, aim to improve the quality of life of the above-mentioned groups and to strengthen their capacity to exercise their rights as citizens (14 Sept. 2002b).

Furthermore, the Inter-American Development Bank reported that:

The Network [RSS] will finance the activities of 13 social programs, which will be executed at the municipal level through NGOs or the private sector. These programs include: (a) urban employment and vocational training, including small-scale municipal works-and-services projects that make heavy use of unskilled labor; (b) rural employment through works that further rural communities' economic and social development using unskilled labor; (c) improvement of urban housing and construction of new housing, including building or reconditioning roads, installing public utility connections, and building and modernizing schools and health posts; (d) basic sanitation and improvement of rural housing, including installment of water supply and sewer services and structural housing improvements; (e) parks and recreation; (f) maternal and infant care programs; (g) pre-schoolers' nutritional supplements; (h) rural nutrition; (i) indigent elderly care, including access to housing, food, clothing, health services and recreational activities; (j) aid for school-age dependents of female heads of households, including subsidies for supplies, textbooks, uniforms and cash allowances; (k) support for gifted youth, including grants that enable young people to receive instruction and practice in artistic, sports or community leadership activities; (l) care for indigent urban youth, including lodging, clothing, physical and mental health services, education, vocational training, and help in battling drug addiction; and (m) trash recyclers, to improve collection, as well as marketing conditions and job training (4 Oct. 1995).

In 6 November 2002 correspondence, the Coordinator of the RSS chapter in Santiago de Cali, Valle de Cauca, stated that she knew Soledad Ramirez Saldana and that Saldana has been working for the RSS for over six years.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). 4 October 1995. "Social Solidarity Network."<http://www.iadb.org/exr/doc98/apr/co889e.htm> [Accessed 4 Nov. 2002]

Colombia, Social Solidarity Network (Red de Solidaridad Social, RSS). 6 November 2002. Correspondence with Coordinator of the RSS Chapter in Santiago de Cali, Valle de Cauca.

_____. 14 September 2002a. <http://www.red.gov.co/eng/LaInstitucion/AcercaEntidad/Antecedentes/index.htm>[Accessed 5 Nov. 2002]

_____. 14 September 2002b. "The Institution." <http://www.red.gov.co/eng/LaInstitucion/index.html> [Accessed 4 Nov. 2002]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases

World News Connection (WNC)

Internet sites

El Colombiano [Medellin]

El Espectador [Bogota]

El Pais [Cali]

El Tiempo [Bogota]

Search engine

Google