Bogota, 8 January 2024. - In his most recent report on the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, covering the period from 27 September to 26 December 2023, UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlights “the progress made in peacebuilding efforts in Colombia as the Government’s total peace policy gradually takes hold, though not without challenges”. In that framework, the Secretary-General highlights ties between the implementation of the Final Agreement and the dialogue initiatives underway as processes that are mutually reinforcing to consolidate peace. The Secretary-General takes note of the appointment of Otty Patiño as the new High Commissioner for Peace, and trusts that his Office “will seize the opportunity to further strengthen the implementation of the Final Peace Agreement and the foundations for the success of the dialogues”.

With respect to the Agreement, the Secretary-General welcomes that key planning and design processes have been completed, for example in the framework of the comprehensive rural reform and the reintegration process, and trusts that entities with implementation responsibilities will translate them into concrete results. The Secretary-General particularly highlights the pact recently signed for the implementation of the ethnic chapter and states that complying with it “is essential to meeting the expectations of Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities”. The report also reiterates the importance of deepening the implementation of the gender provisions of the Final Agreement and of continuing to promote women’s participation in the ongoing peace dialogues.

The report recognizes that Rural Reform remains a top priority for the Government and highlights the new regulations to accelerate access to land and the sizeable budget increase. In addition, the report notes progress in land purchased, land with formalized tenure, well as land handed over to beneficiaries, and highlights the need for additional efforts to bring beneficiaries the necessary support to make it productive.

Reintegration, according to the report, is another area in which this period saw concrete efforts to approach implementation more comprehensively. The approval of the Comprehensive Reincorporation Program is highlighted as a significant step to give a long-term perspective to the process. The report mentions that almost 80 % of former combatants (2,763 women) participate in 5,691 productive projects (68 per cent of which are individual); as well as the purchase, by the Government, of 4,725 hectares of land for former combatants. It also welcomes the fact that the former combatants voted largely without obstacles. Of the 299 Comunes candidates (69 former combatants), and another 76 former combatants endorsed by other parties, 18 were elected (10 women). An Afro-Colombian former combatant was elected mayor of Cumaribo (Vichada). However, is the report also mentions that the killing of a former combatant candidate in Sucre before the elections illustrates the persistence of stigma and violence.

The Secretary-General notes that security is essential for the comprehensive approach promoted by the Government in rural reform and reintegration to produce sustainable results. The Secretary-General notes that this depends, in turn, “on progress in the deployment of an integrated presence of state institutions and services, a core goal of the Agreement and a condition to eradicate conflict drivers”.

In this context, the report describes a mixed picture of the security situation in regions historically affected by the conflict: The Government’s dialogues with illegal armed groups have contributed to the improvement of some indicators in specific locations. For example, according to a report of the Investigation and Accusation Unit of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (SJP), armed conflict de-escalated during the first ten months of 2023, which translated into fewer attacks against public security forces, armed clashes, and civilians killed and wounded.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported the forced displacement of 62,300 persons and the confinement of 81,100 people from January to November 2023; a 20 per cent reduction compared to the same period last year. However, the report also notes that violence by armed and criminal groups continues to have a severe impact on communities and undermine implementation efforts, and that crimes linked to economic dynamics and social and territorial control persist or have increased.

Regarding violence against former FARC-EP combatants, the Mission registered the killing of 11 former FARC-EP members (all men), a decrease of 26.7 per cent compared to the previous quarter. The total number of homicides of former combatants since the signing of the Agreement stands at 406 (including 11 women, 57 Afro-Colombians, 49 Indigenous). With respect to social leaders, during this quarter, OHCHR recorded 46 allegations of homicides of social leaders, 13 verified (11 men and 2 women), 20 undergoing verification, and 13 deemed inconclusive; a 28.8 per cent decrease compared to the previous quarter.

The Secretary-General calls on authorities to step up their efforts to protect these local leaders and former combatants, putting to immediate effect the key mechanisms for security guarantees and recently adopted policies. The Secretary-General states that “committing to the success of the Final Agreement must, under no circumstances, become an existential threat”.

The report once again underscores significant progress in the work of SJP, highlighting the opening of Case 011 on gender-based, sexual, and reproductive violence in conflict. The report also mentions the efforts of Government entities and the SJP in preparation for the issuance of the first restorative sentences, and points out that delays persist in the provision of enabling conditions for their implementation.

The report addresses recent progress in the framework of the negotiations between the Government and the National Liberation Army (ELN), including the agreements reached in the fifth cycle of negotiations held in Mexico, the bilateral ceasefire between the parties and the work of the National Participation Committee. The Secretary-General welcomes the appointment of Vera Grabe as head of the Government delegation to the peace talks, the first time that a woman has such a role.

With regards to the mandate to verify  the ceasefire between the Government and the ELN and in particular regarding the Mission’s role as the international component of the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism of the ceasefire between the Government and the ELN, the report notes that, in addition to the prevention and resolution of day-to-day problems on the ground, the Mechanism has enabled the parties to avoid armed confrontations on several occasions. The Mechanism has worked on the classification of the 170 cases received up to 30 November. Several were dismissed as “not applicable” for not falling under the protocols others are at the pre-verification stage, and others were submitted to the plenary. So far, no case has been confirmed officially by the parties as a violation of the ceasefire. 

On the other hand, the Secretary-General welcomes the agreements reached and the protocols defined thus far in the negotiations between the Government and the group self-identifying as EMC FARC-EP and urges the parties to persevere in observing the ceasefire agreement, including its provisions on protections of civilians, and in defining the negotiations agenda.

In addition, the Secretary-General reiterates his call to all armed actors “to contribute to further de-escalating violence across the country, including by reducing clashes among them, thereby reassuring Colombian society and the world of their commitment to reaching peace through dialogue”.

The report of the Secretary-General will be presented to the UN Security Council by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Colombia, Mr. Carlos Ruiz Massieu, on 11 January 2024.

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Download the Report of the Secretary-General on the UN Verification Mission in Colombia. S/2023/1033

Download the Infographic Report of the Secretary-General on the UN Verification Mission in Colombia. S/2023/1033