“At a time of tensions each globally and regionally, it’s in everybody’s curiosity to safe lasting peace and safety in Colombia,” stated Miroslav Jenča, delivering his quarterly briefing.
He stated the approaching 12 months “undoubtedly supplies a window to advance peace as a strategic nationwide goal, and for Colombia and its companions to interact constructively by means of dialogue to handle shared challenges,” significantly in the border space with Venezuela “the place cooperation on all sides is crucial.”
Swap in focus
Mr. Jenča additionally heads the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, and he reported on re-organization outlined in Council decision 2798 (2025), adopted final October.
The decision prolonged the Mission’s mandate for a 12 months and modified its focus to monitoring three provisions of the 2016 peace settlement signed by the Authorities and FARC-EP rebels:
- Complete rural reform
- Reintegration of former combatants
- Safety of each ex-fighters and communities in conflict-affected areas
Beforehand mandated verification on transitional justice, ethnic-related points and ceasefire monitoring was discontinued.
Challenges in battle areas
Mr. Jenča has spent the previous three months assembly key counterparts throughout Colombia who underscored that the three pillars are vital for attaining peace.
Throughout visits to a number of elements of the nation, he was “struck not solely by the immense challenges going through communities in conflict-affected areas, but additionally by their resilience and willpower to obtain a greater future.”
In some of essentially the most distant areas, every day life is a wrestle “due to the actions of various unlawful armed actors and to the restricted presence of the state, public companies and improvement alternatives.”
Restricted alternatives
He famous that re-integration of former combatants is crucial to the success of peace agreements and guaranteeing their transition to civilian life is essential to keep away from a return to violence.
“Nonetheless, 9 years after the FARC-EP laid down arms below the Peace Settlement, the trail has confirmed difficult for the over 11,000 former combatants who stay energetic in the federal government’s reintegration programme,” he stated.
These women and men usually reside in distant areas with restricted infrastructure, entry to markets, and threats to their safety.
“For the authorities, it has additionally entailed main efforts, each monetary and programmatic, to facilitate their transition into civilian life,” he added, noting that whereas substantial progress has been made however extra is required.
‘Fertile floor’ for armed teams
Entry to land has progressed in Colombia however nonetheless wants to be totally resolved, Mr. Jenča stated. In the meantime, safety stays fragile.
Some 487 former combatants have been killed since laying down their arms. He urged the authorities to step up investigations and prioritize safety ensures for many who signed the peace deal.
Though violence is much decrease now than on the peak of the battle, “the presence of armed teams in areas nonetheless affected by battle continues to inflict struggling on total communities.”
This violence is being fuelled by a combine of things and restricted State presence “supplies fertile floor for the armed teams to exert management, and for illicit economies to prevail.”
Rise in youngster recruitment
Because of this, civilian populations have confronted threats, killings of social leaders, compelled displacement and confinement, and an alarming improve in youngster recruitment and use by armed teams.
The scenario in border areas is significantly complicated, he stated. The UN Mission’s group in Cúcuta, a metropolis on the border with Venezuela, helps response to persevering with clashes between rival armed teams.
1000’s of civilians have been have compelled to flee their properties in the Catatumbo area, which he described as “a hub of coca cultivation and cross-border armed actions and criminality.”
‘Holistic imaginative and prescient’ for peace
Mr. Jenča insisted that the Peace Settlement can considerably contribute to addressing many of those issues.
“It provides a much-needed holistic imaginative and prescient, by offering for the strengthening of the State’s capability to dismantle prison buildings, to promote alternate options to coca cultivation and concrete improvement measures by means of its complete rural reform,” he stated.
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