This report is the result of a case study conducted in Colombia as part of the
evaluation of Dutch policy on International Responsible Business Conduct (IRBC) by the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (IOB).

The Colombia study focuses on the mining sector and explores whether and how Dutch IRBC policy instruments have influenced the behaviour of supplier companies to the Netherlands and whether these have stimulated overall progress in the promotion of IRBC policy in the mining sector in Colombia. Four Dutch IRBC policy instruments were selected for this specific case study: the Coal Covenant, Dutch Embassy activities, international cooperation and legislation, and private sector instruments. Regarding the latter, two types of private sector instruments were selected: instruments relevant for stimulating RBC in the mining sector – the Sector Wide Impact Assessment (SWIA) from the Transition Facility (TF) and the Cadenas de Paz (CAPAZ) project (in the gold sector) funded by the European Partnership for Responsible Minerals (EPRM) – and two projects from an instrument aimed at private sector development with due diligence compliance as a prerequisite – the Environmentally Friendly Crop Protection Products project and the HoCotec+ Sustainable pig production on a high state-of-the-art farm from the Private Sector Investment (PSI) programme. The latter, although not projects relevant for the mining sector were selected for the purpose of IOB’s global evaluation.