Peace and Gender (In)equality: Lessons from the Colombian Peace Agreement of 2016

The driving question is not whether social movements matter in or for social policy, but under which circumstances and due to what factors movements’ ideas and actions influence and inform social policy and broader socio-political processes.

Dr Armine Ishkanian

Project in the Inequalities, Conflict and Peace theme within the Politics of Inequality research programme

This research, supported by the Atlantic Equity Challenge (AEQ) Fellowship, examines the special provisions for gender equality in the Colombian Peace Agreement of 2016. It assesses the effectiveness of their implementation as perceived by the target communities, with the aim of envisioning measures for more effective delivery, and also drawing lessons from the Colombian model for other conflict settings.

The Colombian Peace Accord, which ended over 50 years of armed conflict between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) and the state, marked a watershed moment in the history of peacebuilding as it aimed to redress the disparate impact of armed conflict on women and LGBTQ+. To develop an in-depth analysis of the implementation of the Peace Agreement’s gender commitments, the project focuses on two areas, namely: comprehensive rural reform for gender equality and gender-sensitive reincorporation of ex-combatants. The project outlines a model for a more effective implementation by bringing into focus the voices of the target communities, especially indigenous and Afro-Colombian women, female ex-combatants and LGBTQ+ – the four priority groups of this research. This roadmap, emerging from the margins, guides the project’s engagement with other stakeholders, including NGOs, policymakers and international organisations.

This research adopts a multi-method approach informed by interdisciplinarity and intersectionality. It employs qualitative and quantitative methods, and multi-media tools for data collection and dissemination.

Lead investigator and co-ordinator at LSE:

Dr George Kunnath
Research Fellow

Project co-principal investigator:

Dr Erika Marquez Montaño
Assistant Professor of the Sociology Program, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, Universidad Icesi, Cali, Colombia

Researchers working on this project:

Hobeth Martinez Carrillo
Senior Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity and Senior Research Officer, School of Law, University of Essex

Dr Dilia Consuelo Fuertes
Researcher, Peace and Conflict Observatory, Universidad Nacional, Bogota; Advisor, Agency for Reincorporation and Normalisation, Colombia

Alejandra Erazo Gomez
Researcher, Territorial Management Office of the Truth Commission, Colombia

Erazo Gómez, A. & Espitia Pérez, L. (2018). Caldono, territory for peace. Tensions in the first year of implementation of the Peace Agreement in the indigenous reserves that hosted former FARC guerrilla combatants. Revista Controversia (210), 45 - 83.

Erazo, A., Montenegro, H. & Valencia, D. (2020). Territorial control, extractive expansion and interculturality: risks and challenges for the construction of territorial peace in southern Tolima. In E. Bolaño Mostacilla, I. Giraldo Quijano & A. Erazo Gómez (Eds.), Building territorial peace. A glance upon northern Cauca, southern Tolima, Perijá mountain range and María mountains. (pp. 83-138). Javeriana University.

Kunnath, G. (2022). Peace and Gender Inequality: Lessons from the Colombian Peace Agreement, LSE Research Showcase.

Kunnath, G. (2021). "India's Maoist insurgency and counterinsurgency," The Know Show Podcast.

Marquez Montano, E. (2020) "Sexismo, violencia simbólica y respuestas institucionales: reflexiones en torno al proyecto Desarrollo de un sistema piloto de gestión de la equidad de género y la diversidad sexual para la Universidad Icesi". En Perspectivas de Género en la Educación Superior. Una Mirada Latinoamericana. Universidad Icesi. p.123 - 142, 2020 ISBN: 978-958-5590-55-7.

Marquez-Montaño, E. (2020) Parar para Avanzar: Feminist Activism in 2019 Latin American Mobilization. In Shayne, Julie. Persistence is Resistance: Celebrating 50 years of gender, women & sexuality studies. University of Washington.

Marquez et al. (2020) "The conditions for women's autonomy: Statistical data for Valle del Cauca". In Data Brief. ISSN: 2352-3409. Reed Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2020.105751.

Martínez Carrillo, H. (2019). Los segundos ocupantes en el proceso de restitución de tierras: reto a la reparación con vocación transformadora. Bogotá: Dejusticia.

Martínez Carrillo, H., Michalowski, S. & Cruz-Rodríguez, M. (2020). ¿A quiénes sancionar?: Máximos Responsables y Participación Determinante en la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz. Bogotá: Dejusticia.

Martínez Carrillo, H. & Michalowski, S. (2021). Submission to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights in response to the consultation on Business in Conflict and Post-conflict Contexts. University of Essex Transitional Justice Network.

Martínez Carrillo, H., Michalowski, S. & Cruz-Rodríguez, M. (2021). Towards Consolidating Synergies between Business and Human Rights and Transitional Justice.

Peace and Gender (In)equality: Lessons from the Colombian Peace Agreement of 2016

People

Lead investigator and co-ordinator at LSE:

Project co-principal investigator:

Researchers working on this project:

Publications and resources

Politics of Inequality | Go back to the Politics of Inequality research programme