A report based on the outcomes and recommendations of this conference is available here.

The Colombian Peace Accord demonstrates what can be achieved by women in peace agreements. These hard-won commitments on gender were explored in an international conference in London on 22 November 2017, which was organised by ABColombia. Various panels composed of Colombian women human rights defenders, international policy-makers and academics looked at the innovative approaches used to obtain the gender commitments; they analysed what was achieved in terms of gender-based agreements; discussed the challenges are for implementation; and explored how the lessons learned in achieving a gender focus can benefit other peace processes.

Read more about women’s participation in the Colombian Peace Process.

(Photos by Ingrid Guyon)

Colombian women representing different sectors of society led discussions with a range of policy-makers and experts from the UK, the EU, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Colombia. Download the conference programme in English or Spanish by clicking on the buttons below.

Keynote Speakers:

• German Espejo, Deputy Head of Mission, Government of Colombia
• Justina Demetriades, Gender and Conflict Lead, Oxfam GB
• Baroness Anelay, Former Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict

Panellists included:

• Rosa Emilia Salamanca Gonzalez (Director of the Corporation for Research, Social and Economic Action “CIASE”)
• Lida Emilse Paz Labio (High Commissioner for the Cauca Regional Indigenous Council)
• Edilia Mendoza Roa (Rural Women’s Network and elected (substitute) member of the CSIVI High-Level Women’s Advosory Commission)
• Linda Cabrera Cifuentes (Lawyer and Deputy Director of Sisma Mujer, working on women and transitional justice)
• July Fajardo Farfan (Research coordinator at the Women, Peace and Security Observatory, Humanas Colombia)
• Victoria Sandino Palmera (FARC Negotiator, joining via Skype)
• Mariana Casij Peña (Latin America Research Officer, Institute for Integrated Transitions)
• Ivonne Gonzalez (Director of Human Rights, Colombian Ministry of the Interior)
• Helga Flamtermesky (Coordinator of the Truth, Memory and Reconciliation Commission of Colombian Women in Diaspora)
• Annika Otterstedt (Head of Development Cooperation, Swedish Embassy Colombia)
• Hilde Salvesen (Facilitator of the Negotiations at the Norwegian MFA (gender))
• Fiona Hodgson (Co-Chair of the APPG on Women Peace and Security, UK Parliament)
• Eamon Gilmore (EU Special Envoy to the Colombian Peace Process)
• Laura Mitchell (Senior Adviser at the Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution “NOREF”)