Colombia to Strengthen its Territorial Legal Defense with IDB Support

WASHINGTON - The Executive Board of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a Specific Investment Loan of up to $20 million to finance the Program to Strengthen the Legal Defense of the State at the Territorial Level in Colombia.

The program aims to improve the effectiveness of the State's legal defense at both the national and subnational levels by strengthening institutional capacities and advancing the digital transformation of the National Agency for the Legal Defense of the State (ANDJE). These efforts are expected to reduce fiscal vulnerability arising from claims related to unlawful damage, increase the State's success rate in litigation, and lower the amounts payable as result of adverse rulings.

The operation will finance two main components:

• Strengthening and implementation of the State Legal Defense System with a territorial focus, including technical support to subnational entities and the promotion of unlawful damage prevention.
• Strengthening ANDJE's digital management, through the expansion of eKogui-an intelligent system for managing litigation information-and improvements in cybersecurity.

The loan will have a 19-year amortization period, a 5.5-year grace period, and an interest rate based on SOFR.