Per la Pau / Peace in Progress

Sabina Puig and Léonie van Tongeren

Throughout the last months of 2012, peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC have brought the peace-building process into the media spotlight. While not entering into an analysis of the content of the negotiations themselves or a strict assessment of the current successes and obstacles, ICIP feels that the broader goals and challenges posed by peace-building in Colombia at this historic time deserve consideration.

This edition of Per la Pau / Peace in Progress presents some of those considerations. The first article, by Rafael Grasa, analyses lessons learned in peace negotiations and peace-building with a look at Colombia. Next, Jenny Pearce considers steps taken by the negotiating parties and asks what kind of peace is possible in Colombia. Virginia Bouvier then looks at the need to build trust in order to reach peace in Colombia, with a special focus on civil society. The Peace Team of CIASE, including Rosa Emilia Salamanca G., Carolina Dávila and Paula Valentina Gamez, assesses the goals and challenges faced by Colombian women in the context of peace-building. In the following article, Weildler Guerra tells us about the impact of the armed conflict on indigenous populations and what stance they take in the peace process. Alejandro Matos then presents factors related to armed conflict that stand in the way of human development and therefore peace-building.

The section To Learn More provides recommendations for additional sources on these subjects and more. Additionally, this edition includes an Interview with Luz Marina Bernal whose son was the victim of an extrajudicial killing in Colombia and one of the five women from Soacha who won the ICIP Peace in Progress Award.

This issue also addresses other important topics of peace and security. In the Platform section readers will find a reflection on understanding and addressing violence in El Salvador and Honduras by Rachel Meyer and a contribution from Manuel Montobbio on the 20th anniversary of the signing of the El Salvador Peace Agreements.

ICIP would like to thank the authors for their contributions to this edition of Per la Pau / Peace in Progress, as well as Taula per la Pau i els Drets Humans a Colòmbia for their support.