Cartagena, May 6, 2009. “For us the end goal of the Reintegration Policy is not a cemetery or a prison. It is peace,” said President Alvaro Uribe Velez during his closing remarks at the first International Congress on Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration, held in Cartagena and attended by 1,400 people and delegations from more than 40 countries. For three days, experts and technicians from countries that have experienced difficult times shared experiences with stabilization and maintenance of peace to learn from both the progress and errors of other nations. According to Álvaro Colom, President of Guatemala, Colombia has much to show the world: “President Álvaro Uribe is on the right road to attaining peace. We lacked social cohesion after we signed the peace agreement, and this absence led us right into another war, a war with crime, drug trafficking, and gangs,” affirmed this Head of State. In Colombia over the last six years 50,700 people from illegal armed groups have demobilized. Of them, more than 34 thousand are active participants in the reintegration process, and, with the accompaniment of the Colombian state, they are building their lives, their families, and their communities, and they are returning to society as independent citizens who are committed to peace in Colombia. Sara Morales, reintegration process participant who spoke during the closing session, demonstrated through her life testimony that this process indeed produces results: “Today we are showing the world that we can do this. We have not only put on white clothing to say that we want peace, but have dressed our souls and our hearts in white to build a better country.” On his part, Frank Pearl, High Commissioner of Peace and High Presidential Advisor for Reintegration, stated that the moment has come for all Colombian citizens to make a commitment to developing social networks that will create conditions for attaining true peace. Of the Congress he said that many ideas have been shared, and the conclusion is that there is no one single focus or a single solution: “there are many roads. But what is certain is that in Colombia to attain peace we need to make reintegration a national cause.” This and other contributions from the experts and technicians who participated in the International Congress on Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration were compiled in a document called ‘Cartagena’s Contribution,’ which will serve as a guide for future reintegration processes around the world. .