February 5th, 2024
OIDHACO and European civil society organisations make a request to the United Nations Security Council during its visit to Colombia in February 2024.
Oidhaco¹, a network of European civil society organisations, welcomes the visit of the Security Council to Colombia at a time when it is necessary to strengthen the processes that promote peace.
We express our concern regarding the delays in the implementation of the 2016 Final Peace Agreement, the success or failure of which is crucial to building trust in the ongoing peace negotiations with the remaining armed groups in Colombia.
It is essential that the UN Security Council continues to insist on the implementation of the peace agreement. In this regard, civil society is particularly concerned about the continued delay in implementing the ethnic chapter and all the gender provisions of the agreement. And it is crucial that this peace agreement remains comprehensive in its implementation.
We consider it important to emphasize women’s participation in peacebuilding and in the peace dialogues that are taking place with the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Central General Staff (EMC), and in the Urban Peace processes in Buenaventura, Medellín, and Quibdó.
We welcome the participatory process to formulate the National Action Plan (NAP) 1325 in Colombia in compliance with UN Resolution 1325. This plan should serve to promote the implementation of the gender provisions contained in all the chapters of the Final Peace Agreement in that it strengthens the implementation of what has already been agreed upon and advances the new aspects that women’s organizations have proposed concerning the NAP 1325.
We consider that the security guarantees for the signatories of the Final Peace Agreement, as well as for human rights and environmental defenders, have not been sufficient so far and continue to hinder the fulfillment and progress of the Final Peace Agreement.
We commend the work of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia in monitoring and verifying compliance with the 2016 Peace Agreement. The expansion of its mandate to verify the implementation of the ceasefire between the Government and the ELN is important. Still, it should not imply a weakening of attention to the implementation process of the 2016 Final Peace Agreement.
We believe that civil society in Colombia is fundamental to the coordination, promotion, dynamism, and monitoring of the implementation of the Peace Agreement. It plays a crucial role in the construction of peace at the local, regional, and national level, and is therefore able to report grassroots knowledge of what is happening in the more remote areas of the country, to the Security Council.
We would therefore ask that the Security Council during its visit to Colombia hold meetings with a wide range of CSOs including, women’s, indigenous, and Afro-Colombian organisations, as well as international organisations that accompany Colombian organisations in the construction of peace.
¹The International Human Rights Office – Acción Colombia – Oidhaco – is a network of European and international organisations and platforms that promotes full respect for human rights, the building of peace, and fair and supportive social, economic, and environmental relations. These objectives are achieved through advocacy with the institutions of the European Union, European states, the United Nations system, and other multilateral organisations, in coordination with allied human rights platforms in Colombia. OIDHACO has consultative status with ECOSOC.
European Civil Society organisations that sign:
Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
o Oidhaco – The International Office for Human Rights Action on Colombia
o ABColombia
o ACAT – France
o Agir ensemble pour les droits Humains
o ask! Grupo de Trabajo Suiza Colombia / Arbeitsgruppe Schweiz Kolumbien
o Atelier ONGD
o Broederlijk Delen
o CCFD Terre Solidaire
o Christian Aid
o Colectivo Maloka
o Colombian Caravana UK Lawyers Group
o Cooperació
o DKA Austria
o Diözesanrat der Katholik*innen im Bistum Aachen
o Comité Daniel Gillard
o Ecole de la paix
o Ensemble pour la paix – Vamos por la paz
o France Amérique Latine – FAL
o Fokus – Forum for Women & Development
o Forum CIV
o Justice for Colombia
o kolko – Derechos Humanos por Colombia e. V.
o Misereor
o Movimiento Por la Paz –MPDL
o Mundubat
o Oxfam Colombia
o Pax Christi International
o Protection International
o Réseau France Colombie Solidarités – RFCS
o Secours Catholique Caritas France – SCCF
o Solsoc
o SweFOR
o Taula Catalana per la Pau i els Drets Humans a Colòmbia
o The Norwegian Solidarity Committee for Latin-America (LAG)
o Travailler Ensemble Jeunes et Engagé·e·s – TEJE
