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