Colombia, awarded for transparency, governance, and good information management in the mining-energy sector

 The International Secretariat of the initiative that promotes transparency in the management of information in the mining-energy sector awarded the ‘EITI Award’ to Colombia for its advances in systematization, automation, collection, and dissemination of public data and for being the first country in America to achieve a rating of “satisfactory progress” within the standard, the highest achieved by countries in the region.

• The country received the “EITI Award” which recognizes the improvement in governance indices, efforts to address priority and complex issues in EITI reports, and for providing sector information to the public.

• The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a global standard that promotes the open and responsible management of oil, gas, and mineral resources, which is reflected in the strengthening of governance in the Colombian extractive sector.

• The recognition took place during the opening of the Global EITI Conference that brought together more than 2,000 representatives from the global extractive industry.

• Colombia was chosen as the new representative of Latin America and the Caribbean to the International EITI Council.

This award, granted during the opening of its Global Conference in Paris, recognizes the improvement in governance indices, efforts to address priority and complex issues in EITI reports, and the effective management of sector information to the public.

The systematization and automation being used to collect and publish real data on the sector's performance in EITI reports was decisive for the recognition. One of the advances highlighted is that this year, the Standard, the National Mining Agency (ANM), and the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) began working on web services and data integration systems so that the information in these reports is updated in real time.

According to Francisco París, director for Latin America and the Caribbean of EITI, the initiative wanted to recognize the country's work through this award for its notable commitment, push for good governance, and rapid compliance and adaptation to the standard's requirements. “Colombia's progress is pioneering in the region and a good practice in the world,” said París.

For her part, the Deputy Minister of Mines, Carolina Rojas Hayes, highlighted that “the country is also making efforts to delve into territorial issues to find ways to provide more detailed information to communities and as a manifestation to encourage and assist the process of the Coordination and Concurrence Law that is currently being studied within the National Government.”.

The EITI Award is given annually. Among the countries that have been awarded in previous editions are: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Mongolia, Philippines, Nigeria, Togo, Mongolia, Liberia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan.

Colombia, new representative of Latin America and the Caribbean in EITI

To the “EITI Award” was added the appointment of Colombia as the new representative and official spokesperson for Latin America and the Caribbean before the International Council of the initiative. The Deputy Minister of Mines and official leader of EITIColombia, Carolina Rojas Hayes, will assume regional representation.

Deputy Minister Rojas will be responsible for working and communicating the progress and concerns of the 11 countries in the region that are part of the initiative, before the global body. The official will participate in the meetings to which she is summoned to make decisions related to the participation, progress, and acceptance of the countries in the Standard.
The EITI member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are: Peru, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Guyana, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras, Suriname, and Colombia.

About EITI

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a global Standard that promotes open and responsible management of oil, gas, and mineral resources, which is reflected in the strengthening of governance in the Colombian extractive sector.

The Standard was born in 2002, during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. To date, 52 countries have voluntarily joined the initiative.

For more information about EITI consult http://www.eiticolombia.gov.co.