ABColombia wrote an article for Latin News about the participation of women in the Colombian peace process, especially through the gender sub-commission, and how women’s organisations managed to achieve the inclusion of a strong gender focus in each of the chapters of the final Peace Accord.

On 24 November 2016, the final Peace Accord was signed between the Colombian government and the guerrilla Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo (FARC). Internationally, this is considered one of the most comprehensive peace agreements ever achieved. The success of the Colombian peace talks was no small feat after 50 years of conflict, with over seven million victims of multiple forms of violence, including forced disappearance, extra-judicial executions, kidnappings, torture, and various forms of sexual and gender-based violence.The patterns of violence studied showed that in the case of women this conflict was a continuum of violence which included a lack of economic resources for a dignified life.

Unprecedented in arriving at this agreement was the establishment, early on, of a gender sub-commission at the talks in Havana. Due to the work of this sub-commission, the final Peace Accord has a strong gender focus in each of its chapters. This, alongside formal mechanisms set to guarantee the participation of civil-society, and the work of Colombian women’s civil-society organisations (CSOs), ensured an influential and pervading gender focus in the peace accord.

This article focuses on the work of the gender sub-commission and the support given to it by women’s CSOs and civil society actors; however, it should be recognised that the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the guarantor countries also played a key role.

To read the article as it was published in Latin News’ Andean Regional Report of May 2018, or to access the full article written by ABColombia, please click on the buttons below.