Mandate

The mandates of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia are established by the United Nations Security Council. 


The United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia is a Special Political Mission established in 2016 by the UN Security Council to verify the Final Peace Agreement's implementation and assist Colombia in its commitment to ending the conflict and building peace.

The Mission verifies the implementation of five points of the 2016 Final Peace Agreement between the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP. The UN Mission supports Colombians' efforts to resolve conflicts through dialogue and, in that framework, verifies the implementation of the ceasefire between the Government and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional-ELN, also mandated by the Security Council.

The United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia (UNVMC) verifies the implementation of five sections of the 2016 Final Agreement:

The United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia verifies the Temporary National Bilateral Ceasefire, CFBNT, between the Government of Colombia and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional-ELN:

  • Verifies compliance with the Temporary National Bilateral Ceasefire, CFBNT, between the Government and the ELN.
  • At the parties' request, it is part of the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism together with the Colombian Episcopal Conference, the Government and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional-ELN.

 

Verification Mandates

 

Section 1 of the Final Agreement: Comprehensive rural reform

On 11 January 2023, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2673, extending the Verification Mission’s mandate to monitor the implementation of section 1 of the Final Agreement (Towards a new Colombian countryside: comprehensive rural reform).

Contents of the Agreement to be verified:

  • Land access and appropriate use.
  • Development Plans with a Territorial Focus (PDET for its initialism in Spanish).
  • National Plans for Comprehensive Rural Reform (PNRRI for its initialism in Spanish).

The comprehensive rural reform “will foster structural change in rural areas, overcoming the disparities between town and country, and creating conditions for quality of life and well-being among the rural population. Comprehensive rural reform must integrate the country’s regions to the social and economic development dynamics, contribute to the eradication of poverty, promote equality while recognizing the ethnic diversity and prioritizing rural women, and ensure full enjoyment of citizenship rights” (S/2017/272, p. 8). This will hopefully guarantee the non-repetition of the conflict and the eradication of violence, contributing to the construction of sustainable peace.

 

Section 3.2 of the Final Agreement: Reintegration of FARC-EP into civilian life in economic, social, and political matters

On 10 July 2017, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2366, establishing the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia to monitor the implementation of section 3.2 of the Final Agreement.

Contents of the Agreement to be verified:

  • Economic and social reintegration.
  • Guarantees for the new political party or movement arising from the transition of FARC-EP to legal political activity.
  • Political reintegration.

“Laying the foundations for building a stable and lasting peace requires the effective reintegration of FARC-EP into the country’s social, economic and political life. The reintegration process confirms the commitment of FARC-EP to contribute to the ending of the armed conflict, become a legal political entity and contribute decisively to the consolidation of national reconciliation, coexistence and guarantees of non-repetition, and transform the conditions that allowed violence across the country to break out and persist” (S/2017/272, p. 58).

 

Section 3.4 of the Final Agreement: Security guarantees

On 10 July 2017, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2366, establishing the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia to monitor the implementation of section 3.4 of the Final Agreement.

Contents of the Agreement to be verified:

  • Individual and collective security and protection measures.
  • Comprehensive Security System for Political Activity, especially for FARC members and their families.
  • Comprehensive Security and Protection Programme for Communities and Organizations across the country.

“Agreement on security guarantees and the fight against criminal organizations and conducts responsible for homicides and massacres perpetrated against human rights activists, social or political movements, or which threaten those who participate in the implementation of the agreements and peacebuilding, including criminal organizations that have been labelled as the successors of paramilitaries and their support networks” (S/2017/272, p. 66). 

 

Section 5.1.2 of the Final Agreement: Verification of restorative sentences imposed by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP)

Through Resolution 2574, adopted on 11 May 2021, the UN Security Council expanded the Mission’s mandate to include the verification of Point 5.1.2 of the Final Peace Agreement, concerning the compliance and implementation of the restorative sentences imposed by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, (SJP).

Content to be verified:

  • Compliance with the restorative sentences by those sentenced (those who are the most responsible for the most serious of crimes in the framework of the armed conflict) who are members of the extinct FARC-EP; members of the public security forces; and non-combatant state agents, and civilian third parties).
  • Establishment, by state authorities, of the necessary conditions for compliance with the restorative sentences.

“The concept that emerged from those consultations, which is reflected in the request to the Security Council, is of independent verification by the Mission that would support the ability of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace to ensure compliance with and implementation of its restorative sentences. It would be focused on two key aspects for achieving the intended outcome, especially with regard to the provision of reparations to victims and communities. First, it would verify that those individuals who have received restorative sentences were complying with them. Second, it would verify that the Colombian State was establishing the necessary conditions for the implementation of these restorative sentences. The verification would be conducted in respect of all the categories of individuals with restorative sentences decided by the Special Jurisdiction, namely former members of FARC-EP, members of the security forces and State agents, and third-party individuals.”*

*Letter dated 24 February 2021 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council, by the UN Secretary General António Guterres.

 

Section 6.2 of the Final Agreement: Ethnic Chapter

On 11 January 2023, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2673, extending the Verification Mission’s mandate to monitor the implementation of section 6.2 of the Final Agreement.

Contents of the Agreement to be verified:

  • Progress and challenges concerning the fulfilment and implementation of the ethnic issues outlined in the Ethnic Chapter and all sections of the Final Agreement.
  • Intercultural dialogue mechanisms for conflict resolution aimed at achieving consensus among ethnic peoples and other stakeholders whenever there are differing opinions on implementing other sections of the Final Agreement.
  • Identify the key aspects to advocate for implementing the Ethnic Chapter, highlighting trends and opportunities and seeking specific answers in each of the plans, programmes, mechanisms, and bodies derived from the Final Agreement.

Section 6.2 of the Final Agreement (Ethnic Chapter) refers to the ethnic implications of all sections of the Agreement. It establishes safeguards for the rights of nationally and internationally recognized ethnic peoples and considers specific actions for them in all sections of the Agreement, recognizing the disproportionate impact of the conflict on ethnic peoples. The Mission’s verification of the Ethnic Chapter will identify the key aspects of all sections of the Final Agreement to advocate for its implementation.