Women Peace And Security E-News July 2018

Peace at Risk?: Colombian Prospects under the New Administration in Times of Uncertainty  

By Katherine Ronderos, WILPF Colombia (LIMPAL) President

Members of LIMPAL (WILPF Colombia) and Red de Empoderamiento de Mujeres de Cartagena y Bolívar raising awareness on peace and women’s rights in the public transport on the 2018 International Women’s Day in Cartagena, Bolívar (Photo: LIMPAL)

In 2016, there was a historic Peace Agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People’s Army (FARC-EP) to end an armed conflict that was tearing the country apart since 1964. Thanks to long and hard advocacy by women’s organisations, the Agreement addressed several issues important for women, including women’s political participation, disarmament and gender-based violence.

However, signing the Peace Agreement was only the first step towards sustainable and long-lasting peace.

Today, Colombia is again on the road to the political transition. In June 2018, right-wing candidate Iván Duque won the presidential elections.

Many peace leaders have been concerned with the election results because the new government has expressed his willingness to re-open the commitments of the peace agreement. This includes revisiting the advancements made on gender equality and women’s rights to reduce the guarantees of women and the LGBTQI community affected by the armed conflict.

In particular, the transitional justice system now risks losing its mandate to investigate crimes committed by the military and high level politicians, including on sexual and gender-based violence. Reintegration commitments are now also at risk: underfunding and misprioritisation of demobilisation and reintegration could undermine the transition process for ex-combatants, women in particular, from the newly formed political party Alternative Revolutionary Force of the Common (FARC) and limit opportunities for their political participation. In addition, lack of political support for peace agreement implementation also could support rekindling of tensions and violence with particular impact on women human rights defenders.

WILPF’s Colombian section LIMPAL (Liga Internacional de Mujeres por la Paz y la Libertad) has long called for action by the Colombian government to address sources of violence and insecurity for women human rights defenders associated with the existence of other armed groups and the extensive proliferation of arms throughout the country. This includes ongoing calls to ratify the UN Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), create a UNSCR 1325 National Action Plan, develop stronger mechanism to control arms to prevent the increasing number of killings of women and sexual violence with firearms, and strengthen strong social institutions to ensure realisation of women’s livelihoods, political participation, justice and human rights.

In May and July 2018, LIMPAL with WILPF International participated in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and the pre-session of the CEDAW Committee respectively. Together, we  presented a series of recommendations and key questions to the United Nations and the Colombian government, calling for action to strengthen implementation of the peace process, guarantee the achievement of commitments on women’s rights in the implementation phase, in particular the DDR process, and contribute to strengthening gender conflict analysis in further reforms and implementation efforts.

A year and a half since the Colombian Peace Agreement was signed, peace is at a pivotal point in Colombia. Ensuring accountability for gender and women’s rights commitments as part of holistic agreement implementation from a feminist-pacifist perspective is essential to addressing emerging risks. Supporting the critical work of women peace leaders who face daily security risks is a critical part of this process.