Bogotá, 8 February 2024. “We are in Colombia to witness first-hand the progress achieved in these eight years of implementation of the 2016 Final Peace Agreement and to express the Security Council’s commitment to peace in Colombia." With these remarks, ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations and who holds the presidency of the Security Council this month, opened her statement to the media on this Thursday at Casa de Nariño, following a meeting with the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro.

Ambassador Rodrigues Birkett highlighted that this visit presents an opportunity to engage with relevant stakeholders and participants actively involved in the implementation of the Final Peace Agreement, and to visit the territory to realize both the strides made and the hurdles encountered in its implementation, and deepen their comprehension of the endeavors underway to foster peace in the country.

In line with this, Pascale Baeriswyl, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations, emphasized that the Security Council welcomes the recent announcement of the recent six-month extension of the ceasefire between the Government and the ELN, along with the ongoing verification efforts by the UN Verification Mission in Colombia. She reiterated the Council’s past expressions of hope for increased dialogue progress and ceasefire implementation between the Government and the self-styled Estado Mayor Central (Central Command Structure), to continue expanding the mandate of the Verification Mission.

Dame Barbara Woodward, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, on the other hand, expressed satisfaction with the progress of the Peace Agreement. “We will have two opportunities to visit the field and see for ourselves the progress that has been made, and see what else we can do to protect the signatories of the Peace Agreement, to protect women, human rights defenders, and vulnerable groups who have experienced violence,” she added.

During the day, the Security Council held meetings with the peace signatories where they heard insights from former members of the FARC-EP regarding the implementation process of the Peace Agreement.

Additionally, it engaged in a session with judges from the Special Jurisdiction for Peace concerning the SJP’s contribution to truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of non-repetition within the framework of the Peace Agreement.

The exchange with congress members from various political parties that took place in the afternoon was meant to expose different analyses and viewpoints concerning the progress in the implementation of the Peace Agreement and the challenges it poses.

The day of meetings concluded with a dialogue with the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, to analyze the progress and challenges in the negotiation processes with the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the self-styled Estado Mayor Central, within the framework of the Total Peace policy implementation.

At the end of the day, the UN Security Council was invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to an informal gathering where they had the opportunity to listen to the voices of boys and girls, children of signatories, united in the Children’s Choir for Peace. Their songs reinforced the reasons to believe that every endeavor in peacebuilding will bear fruit.

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