On August 24th the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) announced that they had agreed to a final peace deal, which will put an end to more than 50 years of armed conflict- historic accords which have generated a lot of excitement throughout Colombian society. Crowds gathered to listen to a live broadcast of the announcement and to celebrate the agreement which will officially be signed on September 23rd, following a plebiscite on October 2nd.
Crowds celebrate news of the agreement in Bogotá. Photo: Rafael Castañeda
FORPP recognizes that signing an agreement to end armed conflict is an opportunity to construct peace, and congratulates civil society and human rights defenders for their daily, tireless efforts to construct sustainable and lasting peace throughout the country.
Although many challenges still remain to construct peace—including the continued presence of active armed groups, as well as the actual implementation of this agreement—a mix of emotions, longings, and concerns, are reflected through the opinions of our partners. You can see some of these in our multimedia campaign “Longing for Peace”:
“Peace has no future, only the present. We do not build it tomorrow, but TODAY, in the same way that it is TODAY that we build COMMUNITY.” ~ Eduar Lanchero, deceased leader of the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado
“Peace in our country is something that everyone has longed for becauase we’re children of the war.” Community leader of Nilo, Cundinamarca.
“Peace means harmony, understanding, and that people have a life of dignity. Because when someone doesn’t have good life conditions, well that causes war.” Community leader from the Humanitarian Space of Puente Nayero, Buenaventura.
To learn more about the impacts of the armed conflict and aspects we need to construct peace, please look at The A to Z’s of Peace