Visit of the Colombian War College to Oslo

In September NOREF once again welcomed a delegation from the Colombian War College (Escuela Superior de Guerra) to Oslo. Norway has been engaged in dialogue with the Colombian military for 23 years. This initiative aims at engaging with members of the country’s security forces on the need for a lasting and sustainable peace, and at building trust among the various sectors of Colombian society.

The visit of 33 high-ranking Colombian officers is part of a longstanding Norwegian engagement with the Colombian military and police, and was co-hosted by NOREF, the Norwegian Defence University College (NDUC), the Colombian organisation Social Development Group (SDG) and the Colombian Embassy in Oslo. The group included officers from the navy, air force, army, and the police, and was accompanied by the director of the Colombian War College and the director of SDG.

The CAEM group met with representatives from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Storting and the Norwegian Armed Forces, including the Norwegian Defense Staff. The programme included both discussion on current issues in Norwegian foreign and security policy, the Colombian peace process, the Women, Peace and Security agenda and citizen security. The Colombian Embassy in Norway hosted a reception to welcome the group, which was attended by the different Norwegian actors involved in the programme. In addition to the stay in Oslo, the group also visited the military camp Rena to learn about the security implications for Norway of the new geopolitical security climate and Norway’s cooperation in the NATO realm.

This was the fifth visit of its kind since NOREF joined the project in 2014 and it builds on NOREF’s solid partnership with the Social Development Group and the Norwegian Embassy in Bogotá.