COLOMBIA

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Colombia’s first NAP was launched in 2024, a result of over 20 years of advocacy for women's safety and security amid ongoing violence. The NAP allows the government to be transparent about their plans and commit to specific measures to ensure the implementation of WPS.

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Objectives/Aims of the 2024-2034 NAP

The Colombian NAP has a general objective as well as specific objectives.

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General Objective -

Implement actions in compliance with Resolution 1325 of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda so that women in their diversities in Colombia are agents and leaders in the construction and maintenance of peace and can enjoy an autonomous life, in peace, free of discrimination, inequality and violence.

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Specific Objectives -

• Increase the effective and incidental participation of women in all their diversities in decision-making spaces and in negotiations for the construction of peace and security in urban and rural territorial contexts.
• Promote access to comprehensive health and well-being for women and girls in all their diversities, affected by the contexts of armed conflict, with an emphasis on mental health, including the recognition of their ancestral and community practices.
• Advance in guaranteeing the right to a life free of violence for women and girls in all their diversities, with an emphasis on sexual and reproductive violence and violence due to prejudice against the LBTQ+ population of the victims, both in contexts of armed conflict and post-agreement.
• Promote access to truth, justice, reparation, and non-repetition in favor of women and girls in all their diversities, victims survivors of all violence in the context of the armed conflict, from a gender, anti-racist, differential, territorial, ethnic, and intersectional approach.
• Promote mechanisms for effective prevention, protection and self-protection of the territory and violence against women in all its diversities in the presence of non-state armed groups and extractive industries in the context of non-international armed conflicts, internal tensions or internal disturbances.
• Promote the economic autonomy of women in all their diversities for the construction of peace and security in urban and rural territorial contexts.
• Contribute to the reduction of the risks and differentiated impacts suffered by women, adolescents and girls in situations of forced human mobility in situations of conflict and post-agreement for the comprehensive protection of their rights.
• Recognize the gender approach as a fundamental tool in the actions of the State at the bilateral and multilateral levels and International Cooperation.

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Commentary
The signing of the NAP coincided with the international 16 Days campaign, highlighting gender-based violence, including the disproportionate targeting of women in politics. The NAP is a tool to ensure women's voices are included and confirms the commitment to include women in leadership positions, from peace processes to politics. It provides a framework to include women in Colombia’s peace negotiations and decision-making at various levels. The coordination, follow-up and monitoring of the NAP will be the responsibility of the national government.

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Involvement of Civil Society in Developing the NAP
The development of Colombia’s NAP stood out for its participatory nature, with women from diverse backgrounds involved in forums to voice their needs and priorities. NIMD Colombia supported the inclusive consultation process, ensuring the plan reflected the perspectives of women from all parts of society. The NAP provides a tool for civil society organizations (CSOs) to hold the government accountable.

UN Peacekeeping Statistics

As of May 2023, Colombia contributed a total of 5 personnel to UN peacekeeping operations, of which 3 were women.

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Women in Peacekeeping
One of the NAPs pillars is on protection which focuses on the importance of women's participation in the adoption of all peacekeeping and peacebuilding measures. One of the thematic lines in the NAP focus on Women peacekeepers and participants in negotiations for the construction of peace and human security in urban and rural territorial contexts.

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References

United Nations Peacekeeping. (July 2023): Troop and police contributors | United Nations Peacekeeping

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Contribution of Uniformed Personnel to UN by Country, Mission, and Personnel Type (May 2023): 05-Missions Detailed By Country‌

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Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

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