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Bogota, Colombia, November 22, 2011
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, the Colombian School of Public Administration, known as ESAP, and Ecopetrol have helped 18 Colombian municipalities design 57 projects that will allow them to use oil revenues to help improve living standards for up to 850,000 people.
Under an initiative launched in 2010 and supported by the governments of Norway, Spain, and Switzerland, IFC and its partners are helping local governments and civil society maximize the impact of well-invested oil royalties in five regions that receive the highest income from royalties. Results of the initiative so far include 57 strategic municipal projects, valued at $42 million, to improve basic services such as water, education, health care, and infrastructure
ESAP’s National Director, Honorio Henríquez Pinedo, said: “The academia is partnering with the private and the public sectors to improve the managerial skills of municipal officials who are responsible for transforming the income received by local governments into good-quality basic services for their communities. Through this agreement we are able to reach a higher number of municipalities, and focus on oil royalties, an important source of revenues for our country.”
Irene Arias, IFC Country Manager for the Andean Region, said: “This initiative reinforces our strategy of inclusive growth in Colombia by helping municipalities optimize the use of oil resources and ensuring access to improved services to benefit people at the base of the pyramid. IFC is committed to using its global expertise in the local context and sharing global best practices to contribute to greater transparency in the use of oil royalties at the subnational level."
Through this initiative, Ecopetrol has demonstrated its commitment to the development and growth of the communities in which it operates, ensuring citizen participation in decisions that affect local communities. The initiative works with civil society organizations such as the Regional Royalty Committees to enhance their monitoring capabilities to ensure local governments invest royalties to improve the quality of life of surrounding communities.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilizing capital in the international financial markets. In fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the globe, we helped our clients create jobs, strengthen environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities—all while driving our investments to an all-time high of nearly $19 billion. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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About ESAP
The Colombia School of Public Administration, known as ESAP, is an academic institution of higher learning whose mission is to strengthen the managerial capacity of entities that provide public services. ESAP delivers its services through higher education, on the job training, research and technical assistance at local, regional and national levels. For more information, visit
www.esap.edu.co
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About Ecopetrol
Ecopetrol S.A. is the largest company in the country and the principal petroleum company in Colombia. Because of its size, Ecopetrol S.A. belongs to a group of the 40 largest petroleum companies in the world and it is one of the four principal petroleum companies in Latin America. For more information, visit:
www.ecopetrol.com.co
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