Cúcuta, 1 March 2018.  "Good morning. Please allow me to start by thanking the Mesa Social por la Paz (Social Committee for Peace), all the organizing parties of this “Encuentro Nacional de la Paz” (National Conference on Peace) and all those who made it possible for me to be here to speak on behalf of the United Nations.

Besides thanking you, I want to congratulate you for having taken the first steps in making the civil society reflect on and take action in search of a durable and comprehensive peace.

Colombia calls for an active and demanding civil society so the opportunities that have arisen from the peace process with the FARC, along with its imperfections and challenges, do not go to waste, so the promises contained in the agreement from Teatro Colon be fulfilled, and so the Peace Process in Quito be consolidated.

We praise the important initiative taken a few weeks ago by a wide range of social organizations who invited the government and ELN to disengage from violence and to build a collective solution to the conflict.

This gesture is aligned with the United Nations Secretary-General’s vision.

Similarly, we highlight the decision these organizations have made to continuously lend their good offices in pursuit of peace, and in spite of the challenges posed by formal dialogue, they are determined not to lose the opportunity to advance toward the achievement of a fair and lasting peace. This is yet another contribution towards the configuration of an irreversible peace-seeking environment.

Such willingness of having a supportive, fairer and violence-free country is not unique to social organizations. For two years, our Mission has been deployed in various big and small cities of the country and throughout those areas most affected by the conflict.

And there, among the most diverse population sectors –rural communities, local businessmen, authorities, indigenous and afro leaders, women and young people’s organizations, police officers, victims and very often aggressors– we have found a deep and genuine willingness towards peaceful dialogue; a readiness towards reciprocal respect and reconciliation; and an eagerness to find collective solutions to the big challenges faced in their regions.

As a result, a collective precept arises from such great alignment: a precept for all the social and political leaders; a command for all the parties in conflict; a request to the international community, in particular to the United Nations: To pave the way that leads to hope.

And in view of the current challenges –the issues brought by the implementation of the agreement with the FARC, the violence outbreaks in the territories, the threats and killings of community leaders and community committee members, the setbacks during the peace process with the ELN- it lifts our spirits to see how this great alignment, in the end, is the cornerstone to successfully write a new chapter in the history of Colombia.

Let me take this opportunity to strongly reaffirm the United Nations commitment to this purpose and my certainty that today’s event will be another step to achieving it.

Thank you very much". 

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