The Mesa de la Sociedad Civil para la Transparencia en las Industrias Extractivas presents to the public the report De la Tierra a las Regalías: Plan Departamental de Música de Caldas, a document that details the monitoring of this cultural project from a gender perspective. This report was developed by the Corporación Cívica de Caldas, as an activity of the action plan of the SGR (General Royalties System) Subcommittee.
With royalty resources of $1,033,100,000, the project that initiated the Departmental Music Plan in the department of Caldas was approved. It was 2013 and the Eje Cafetero and Antioquia Regional Collegiate Administrative and Decision Making Body (OCAD) approved its execution between 2013 and 2014, with a focus on peace and coexistence, and with a projection to 2025.
In 2022, the Caldas Civic Corporation analyzed its contractual and budgetary execution and its impact over time, finding 26 alerts: 17 for formulation and execution, seven for information deficiencies, and two for project incidences.
Among the most relevant warnings is that although the approved budget for the project was $1,033,100,000, the executed budget, according to the response to the right of petition sent to the Secretary of Culture of Caldas, was $984,969,449. In addition, unforeseen expenses were identified due to differences between the estimates and what was actually executed in the hiring of teachers, advertising, the purchase of some items and transportation. For example, the latter had a 729% increase in investment, going from $30,720,000 to $223,968,183; and likewise, the purchase of 216 acoustic guitars and 540 strings for them was projected, but 108 and 324 were purchased, respectively.
For the development of this research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with different actors, such as members of eight of the 27 music schools that benefited, two experts, and the current and former Secretary of Culture of the department; in addition to conducting a background search in databases and platforms of the SGR, reviewing the document that formulated the Plan, and sending a right of petition.
The above not only made it possible to identify these alerts and conclusions, but also to define a step-by-step approach to carry out social control of a cultural sector project in the SGR, taking into account that at the time of the research, 5,229 projects had been approved in Colombia for transportation and 405 for culture; in Caldas, 712 and 26, respectively.
Long range
This Plan benefited 5,508 Caldenses, especially children and adolescents, mainly with the creation or strengthening of 27 music schools in the department. As of 2022, 24 schools were still in operation.
Of the 44 contracts executed, 12 were signed with women or companies whose legal representative was a woman. From a retrospective look at the present time, the music experts assured that there is a lack of public policies on gender and sexual diversity in these spaces, however, a much more friendly and open space is perceived.
The Corporación Cívica de Caldas will consult with ALAC (Anti-Corruption Legal Advice Center of Transparencia por Colombia) on the most relevant alerts, from a pedagogical approach, in order to provide guidelines for monitoring and identifying opportunities for timely reporting. It also urges that these should not be repeated.
To consult the document click on this link.
For more information, please write to: secretariatecnica@transparenciacolombia.org.co
