Precedents

1982 - 2010

With the precedent of the confrontation between liberal and conservative guerrillas of the “La Violencia” era in Colombia, the armed confrontation between the Colombian State and the FARC-EP dates back to the 1960s with the formation of the guerrilla group in 1964, and the evolution and deployment of its guerrilla structures in different regions of the country during the following decades. 

Exploratory Phase

2010 - 2012

The Exploratory phase of the talks between the Colombian Government and the FARC-EP took place between September 2010 and August 2012.  It all began with an exchange of letters and communications – through third party delegates – and ended with the General Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace, which guided the course and rules of the talks during the public stage. 

What was the origin of the dialogues between the Colombian Government and the FARC-EP in 2012?

Conversations Phase

2012 - 2016

On October 18, 2012, the Negotiations Table was installed, thus initiating the public phase of the process to be carried out in Havana, with the objective of reaching agreements on the six points of the agenda. On August 24, 2016, a first Final Agreement was reached, which was signed in Cartagena a month later.

The challenges of negotiating during wartime

Renegotiation Phase

2016

Following the Constitutional Court’s endorsement to establish a mechanism for citizen endorsement of what was agreed in Havana (Cuba), on October 2, 2016, the Plebiscite for peace was held. Colombians were asked: “Do you support the final agreement to end the conflict and build a stable and lasting peace?”. 6,431,376 citizens (50.21%) voted “No” and 6,377,482 (49.78%) “Yes”. In view of the disapproval of the Agreement, the Colombian government activated a Great National Dialogue with the purpose of collecting proposals for adjustments and clarifications from sectors that had voted in favor and against the Agreement. With these proposals, the government and FARC-EP sat down again in Havana to build a new agreement to be reached on November 12, 2016.  

How was the Peace Agreement renegotiated?

Implementation Phase

2016 - present

With the endorsement of the Final Agreement through the Congress of the Republic, the Implementation phase of the Agreement began on December 1, 2016. Among the first milestones of the implementation, the Commission for Monitoring, Promotion and Verification of Implementation (CSIVI) and the National Council for Reincorporation (CNR) were created as joint government and FARC-EP bodies to monitor the implementation process. 

Differential Perspectives

The vision for the peace process defends the premise that any agreement to be reached should protect and guarantee the rights of all citizens, free of any discrimination and adhering to the principles of universality, equality and progressive protection. Thus, the agreed upon should respect equality in its different dimensions, avoiding the negation, restriction or diminution of a person’s rights, regardless of sex, age, religious beliefs, opinions, ethnicity, inclusion in the LGBTI population or for any other reason. Under this perspective, the parties decided to incorporate and generalize differential perspectives in the conversations and resulting agreements, with particular emphasis on gender and ethnic perspectives.

To ensure the incorporation of both perspectives within the implementation process for the Final Agreement, two monitoring agencies were created with delegates from civil society: the Special Women’s Agency for the Gender Perspective and the Special High Level Ethnic People’s Agency.

 

Gender-based Perspective

The gender-based perspective is understood as the recognition of equal rights among men and women, and of the special circumstances for each, particularly for women as a subject with rights and special protections, regardless of her marital status, lifecycle and family or community relations. This perspective is intended to guarantee affirmative actions for promoting said […]
 

Ethnic-based Perspective

The inclusion of an ethnic chapter in the Final Agreement was an answer to the claim of several representatives and leaders from indigenous, black, afro-descendant, Raizal (The Raizal are a Protestant-majority Afro-Caribbean ethnic group living in the department of San Andrés y Providencia who speak an English-based creole language) and Palenquero (Palenquero is a Spanish-based […]

Related Content

Video

Without a gender approach, the Agreement would have been incomplete

The Colombian Peace Agreement is unique in the world because, having met international criteria, it managed to include gender equality to consolidate peace and to promote the participation of women and LGBTI community.  Thanks to the gender approach it was recognized that women and girls have suffered more and with greater intensity the consequences of […]
Infographic

The inclusion of Differential Approaches in the Final Agreement

Learn more about what was included in the Final Agreement related to the gender-based and ethnic-based approaches: the objectives, main milestones in the negotiating table, who participated and what were the results. The translation of this piece was made possible thanks to the support of the Embassy of Canada in Colombia.

Historical Archive

Archivo histórico

VER TODO