International organizations in Germany evaluate first year of peace agreement in Colombia
On December 7th 2017 representatives of six international organizations met in Berlin, Germany during the conference “Ein Jahr Friedensabkommen: Wie hat sich Kolumbien verändert?” (In English: One year of peace agreement: How has Colombia changed?)
The conference aimed to sum up advances of the implementation of the peace deal between the Colombian government and the ex-guerilla FARC-EP after one year of its signing.
The conference was organized by the association Kolko e.V. – Menschenrechte für Kolumbien, the organizations Brot für die Welt, Adveniat, Amnesty International, MISEREOR and the German political foundation Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. The event took place in the bureau of the foundation in the German capital.
Other colaborating groups were the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Entwicklungshilfe e.V. – AGEH, Kolumbiengruppe Nürtingen e.V. and the international organizations Caritas International and Pax Christi – Deutsche Sektion e.V.
Small forums to discuss big issues of the peace agreement
The key aspects of the peace agreement in Colombia were debated in small thematic forums. The first forum treated changes on land ownership in Colombia, the second forum focused on participation of the civil society in contexts of peace while the third and last one handled the situation of victims in the conflict.
Results of the conference
The conference ended with a panel to present the results of the discussions and the German contribution to the peace process in Colombia. Participants in the panel were Paula Gaviria, presidential advisor for human rights in Colombia, Tom Koenigs, special delegate of the German government for the peace process in Colombia; Jairo Rivera, delegate of the Voces de Paz (representatives of the FARC at the Chamber in Colombian Parlament and Diana Sánchez, director of the Asociación MINGA and coordinator of the program Somos Defensores.
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You can see the closing panel of the Conference here: Closing Panel of the Conference “Ein Jahr Friedensabkommen: Wie hat sich Kolumbien verändert”?
Related to Tom Koenigs: German commissioner for the peace process reaffirms support to CAPAZ Institute