NOREF/Wilton Park seminar report: Turbulence in peace processes. What next for Colombia?
Wilton Park and NOREF organised a three-day conference on March 29-31 with the purpose to learn from the process that resulted in a peace agreement in Colombia. A seminar report summarising the debates and discussions of the event, is now available.
Colombia is currently facing the most significant transition from war to peace in the world. Despite internal political controversy and difficulties in getting the government bureaucracy wheels turning, a solid design of the peace process and strong political commitment from government as well as Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) has so far allowed the implementation to meet its targets. However, the implementation faces challenges.
Wilton Park and NOREF Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution organised a three-day conference on March 29-31 with the purpose to learn from the process that resulted in a peace agreement in Colombia; have a debate about the challenges and priorities of peace implementation; and to assess the role of international actors in supporting Colombia’s post-agreement scenario. Some 45 Colombian and international experts including representatives of the Colombian government, FARC, civil society as well as international experts and diplomats participated in the discussions.
Wilton Park has now, in collaboration with NOREF, published a seminar report which summarizes the debates and discussions of the event, and proceeds to analyse the challenges ahead as well as the options available.
Challenges in the implementation of the agreement are technical as well as political. Venues for broad discussions are required to make sure all available national and international expertise is tapped to inform decisions. It is also important to manage expectations and be clear about what can realistically be achieved in different time-frames. With low levels of public trust in the government and the FARC, as well as looming presidential elections in May 2018, the political consensus is harder to reach. The first section of the report captures the traits and innovations of the Colombian peace process, which may inspire other international peace initiatives. The second section identifies the core challenges ahead and some recommendations for the peace agreement implementation.
The seminar report can be found HERE.
A "talking heads"-video featuring key participants of the event can be found HERE.
