Following many years of battle, the Authorities of Colombia and the FARC-EP insurgent group signed an historic Last Settlement on 24 November 2016.
The next 12 months, the Council authorised the creation of a UN Verification Mission in Colombia to supervise the accord’s implementation.
Nonetheless, the Council narrowed the scope of the Mission’s mandate in October 2025, at the same time as that 12 months noticed the tried assassination – and later passing – of one in all Colombia’s presidential candidates. Nonetheless, the nation held largely peaceable congressional elections on 8 March 2026.
Keep the course
“It’s important for the nation to remain on this trajectory,” emphasised Miroslav Jenča, Particular Consultant and Head of the United Nations Verification Mission within the nation.
Now, forward of presidential elections on 31 Might, he known as on all involved to make sure a secure, peaceable surroundings freed from violence and stigmatization.
And condemning reported threats in opposition to presidential candidates, he known as on State authorities to ensure the security of all contributors within the electoral course of.
For its half, the Mission will contribute – because it did throughout congressional elections – in analysing safety dangers and coordinating preventive actions.
Additional, the Mission has been “totally restructured” to replicate the “refocused” mandate established by decision 2798 (2025), which he famous contains reintegration of former combatants, safety ensures and complete rural reform.
On the latter, he pointed to each progress achieved and continued effort wanted, whereas additionally underlining the significance of this course of: “By unlocking viable financial alternatives, it could actually additionally present sustainable alternate options to illicit economies, thereby serving to to interrupt the cycle of violence.”
Laborious-won positive aspects eroded
He detailed an identical actuality close to former combatants, the place lively reintegration is sophisticated by the “fragile socioeconomic, infrastructural and safety circumstances in rural areas the place many former combatants have settled”.
He additionally reported that clashes over territorial management and illicit economies in a number of rural areas – “the Catatumbo area is a living proof” – are visiting violence and hardship on whole communities.
The UN Verification Mission in Colombia’s key job is to confirm the reintegration into society of former FARC-EP members.
“So long as violence, territorial disputes or governance vacuums persist in any a part of the nation, they danger undermining nationwide stability and eroding the positive aspects made elsewhere,” he underscored. And stressing that the Last Settlement offers a complete roadmap for addressing each the basis causes and the results of the battle, he noticed:
“The territories the place the Settlement has not been sufficiently applied are exactly the place probably the most acute issues persist in the present day.”
Transformational alternative
Talking for a type of hotspots – the Catatumbo area – Olga Lucia Quintero Sierra, Common Coordinator of the Catatumbo Peasant Affiliation, stated that honouring the historic settlement is a “actual alternative for transformation” for these dwelling in rural Colombia.
Its sections are interconnected, and she or he harassed that “advancing in a partial or fragmented method weakens its essence”.
Additionally underlining the necessity to hearken to communities, she stated that, regardless of a brand new escalation of violence in Catatumbo, “indicators of hope” embody social funding, the development of a brand new college and land allocation to rural ladies.
On the latter, she stated that 54 ladies have benefitted from the allocation of 724 hectares of land. “This achievement isn’t nearly entry to land; it’s the opportunity of rebuilding our lives,” she emphasised.
No summary peace
“Peace in our territories isn’t an summary idea – it’s the actual presence of the State” in these areas, she went on to say, which equates to “the opportunity of dwelling with out concern”.
In opposition to that backdrop, she urged the Mission to proceed verifying the deal and the brand new Authorities to imagine the dedication to completely implement the accord as a nationwide precedence.
Colombia, she concluded, demonstrates that, “even in situations marked by profound variations, dialogue constitutes the best path to constructing peace”.
