Nearly a decade after Colombia’s historic 2016 Peace Agreement, what does peace look like on the ground?
The Agreement marked an ambitious effort to end more than five decades of armed conflict between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP. Ten years on, important progress has been made, but the experience of peace remains deeply uneven across Colombia’s territories.
Understanding why requires looking beyond national-level assessments to the people tasked with turning the Agreement’s promises into reality – and to the communities living with its successes, shortcomings and unfinished commitments.
This event brings together insights from PRIO’s MicroPeace and Com2Civ projects to examine the implementation of the Agreement from the perspective of people living in the territories. Drawing on assessments of implementation and original fieldwork with bureaucrats and communities, the event will explore how local actors understand the challenges of building peace and the conditions needed to sustain it. In particular, the discussion will highlight the experiences and perspectives of children and youth.
The event also focuses on one of the Agreement’s central commitments: the reintegration of former FARC-EP combatants into civilian life. Com2Civ investigates how wartime and reintegration rituals shape, both positively and negatively, ex-combatants’ return to civilian life, offering a new perspective on the social foundations of lasting peace.
Bringing these perspectives together, the event takes the tenth anniversary of the Peace Agreement as an opportunity not only to take stock, but also to look ahead. What has a decade of peace implementation taught us about the conditions needed to make peace last – particularly in the territories most affected by conflict?
The event will explore questions such as:
- How do public officials responsible for implementation perceive the main obstacles to delivering the Agreement’s commitments?
- What do communities and local actors see as the most important conditions for sustaining peace?
- How are the voices and interests of children and youth reflected in the implementation of the Agreement?
- How do peace signatories and communities rebuild trust and cooperation after war?
Join us at PRIO for an engaging afternoon of discussion, followed by Colombian food and dance.
Speakers
- Helga Malmin Binningsbø, Senior Researcher (PRIO)
- Camila Sánchez Mejía, Research Assistant (Universidad de los Andes)
- Gladys Zubiría Fuentes, Postdoctoral Researcher (Universidad de los Andes)
- Camilo Eduardo Espinosa Díaz, Senior Researcher (PRIO)
