Colombia: Building a Culture of Peace

“The armed conflict extinguished people’s hope and dreams. This is how we revive them.”

– Gloria Amparo Alzate

In April I visited Colombia, a beautiful country with a complex history of deep-rooted social inequality, political violence, narcoterrorism, and a decades long armed conflict between the government and guerrilla groups. Those of us who were around in the 1980s remember the heyday of drug lord Pablo Escobar and the powerful drug cartels that controlled and terrorized the country (think a precursor to current day Mexico). Younger people may know the story from the Netflix series Narcos.

The purpose of my trip was to explore collaboration with in-country partners for the International Peace and Security Initiative (IPSI).

Colombia is an interesting case study and a good place to have opportunities to engage in the peace process. Its armed conflict broke out in 1964, with the government, right-wing paramilitary forces, leftist guerrilla groups, and crime syndicates fighting over control of the country, often fueled by issues of land inequality and drug trafficking. The U.S. played a significant role in the conflict, primarily by providing military and economic assistance to combat violence, kidnappings, drug trafficking, and terrorism. It often faced criticism for exacerbating human rights abuses and internal conflicts.

In 2016, after many years of fighting between the Colombian government, its paramilitary forces, and the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), there was finally a peace agreement. I remember at the time how it was celebrated and held out as a model of inclusion. Women played a significant role in the process, and the agreement addressed issues of women’s rights, gender, and violence against women.

Colombia is still very much in the phase of implementing the peace agreement and rebuilding the country. There are long-lasting effects of a conflict that deeply traumatized individuals and communities. Increasing violence, exploitation of resources, and narcotrafficking continue to threaten the fragile peace.

Colombia has historically been one of the U.S.’ strongest allies in Latin America, with cooperation on security and economic issues. The resurgence in violence, along with the Trump Administration’s increasingly hostility against it, undermine this relationship.

That’s why it’s more important than ever to focus on and support the peacebuilding efforts that are happening in the country, many of which are being led by women.

During my visit, I was fortunate to spend time with some amazing peacebuilders.

My experience visiting Conciudadania, a Medellin-based nongovernment organization (NGO) that promotes citizen participation in democracy and peacebuilding, was a good example of the peacebuilding efforts in Colombia. Their programs currently focus on the social reconstruction of regions affected by the conflict to establish inclusive and sustainable democracy that protects peoples’ rights.

This means looking at how individuals participate in politics and in public life: what their dreams are for a world after conflict, what their shared vision is for the future, and how they can accomplish their goals for a more stable Colombia. Conciudadania and its partners are working with local women to develop what they call a “Plan de Vida” – or “Life Plan”, their joint vision for the future.

These Planes de Vida include cultural, social, economic, political, and environmental aspirations; they help communities lay out what they want and what they need for stability, prosperity, and peace. Communities then develop action proposals to present to their local governments.

During my visit, the Director of Conciudadania, Gloria Amparo Alzate Castaño, invited me to join her at a workshop they were holding for women involved in local politics to work on their Plan de Vida.

The workshop brought together women from some of the regions most affected by the conflict. Regions rich in resources – industry, hydroelectricity, water, and energy – that also remain some of the poorest in Colombia, because companies extract and exploit their resources but provide very little compensation for them.

The group first heard from the director of the Comisión Colombiana de Juristas (Colombian Commision of Jurists), who emphasized the importance of women in building democratic and stable societies. This is what she recommended, most of which is relevant to women in the U.S. and around the world, especially in these challenging times:

• Insist that Colombia sign international and regional rights agreements.
• Measure the impact of armed conflict on local women and children to show how they are affected and why their voices must be heard.
• Don’t wait until there is political will for change. Just organize.
• Be insistent and persistent. Get women into campaigns and meeting agendas until politicians have no choice but to include them.
• Ask for meetings with political figures and present them with clear plans, objectives, and goals for their communities. Then hold them accountable.
• Start slowly and deliberately. Identify 2-3 priorities to focus on for next year’s municipal elections. Don’t try to do too much.
• Focus on political alliances and common agendas. Polarizing narratives are controlled by men. Women are better at building relationships.
• Create a culture of peace.

The women worked in groups to talk about the situations in their communities and where to jointly focus their efforts. Their discussions centered on the need for profound cultural change, including through educating youth and changing traditional notions of masculinity; and the importance of public policies to support rural women.

As Gloria told me, the armed conflict extinguished people’s hope and dreams. These Planes de Vida are meant to revive them.

During my time in Colombia I was also fortunate to spend time with Rosa Emilia Salamanca, Director of CIASE(Corporación de Investigación y Acción Social y Económica), a nationwide network dedicated to human rights, democracy, and lasting peacebuilding). As part of the women’s movement in Colombia, Rosa Emilia played a crucial role in shaping the peace agreement on women’s rights and has worked continuously to advance peace in Colombia and around the world.

As one of the founders of the Women, Peace and Security Collective, Rosa Emilia and the CIASE team facilitate dialogues in regions throughout the country and generate strategies for sustaining peace. I hope to attend some of these dialogues in 2026.

I was also lucky to meet with Juan Felipe Garcia, Director of the Research and Analysis Division at the Jurisdiccion Especial Para La Paz (the JEP, or Special Jurisdiction for Peace in English), a special court established by the 2016 peace agreement designed to achieve justice and reconciliation. It tries crimes and human rights violations committed by government forces and FARC rebels during the conflict. I’ve always been fascinated by the JEP, and there are exciting opportunities for IPSI and our students to interact with this unique court that has an important role in Colombia’s peace process as well as in the international legal system.

While in Bogota I met with faculty at the Javeriana University, a close partner of the University of Cincinnati, who work on various issues related to peace and security including armed conflict, transitional justice, gender, environment, economic security, land rights, democracy and governance, business and human rights, and indigenous issues. We have many interests in common and hope to build a collaborative program in the coming year that will integrate our work in Colombia.

There will also be opportunities to work with the private sector in 2026.

Colombia’s people are resilient. But the peace is fragile, and recent surges in violence and ongoing conflict over resources threaten to topple it. Implementation of the peace agreement is more important than ever. We are developing ways for the International Peace and Security Initiative, in collaboration with our partners, to support the process and will continue to share our work with the community. Stay tuned for more.