Early lessons from the Colombian peace process

Colombia has suffered one of the longest internal armed conflicts in the world. This long and tainted war has been active for over five decades and its magnitude was, and still is greater than many major internal conflicts around the world. During the last four years the Colombian government and the FARC-EP guerrillas have been engaged in peace talks with the aim of putting an end to armed struggle. Throughout this process both parties have deployed a number of innovative strategies and techniques that are setting new standards in the field of conflict resolution. These new approaches are now informing developments in peace-making, peace-building, security, human rights, and international law at the regional and global levels. The aim of this policy brief is to describe and discuss three emerging lessons from the on-going peace process: the role of diplomacy; the importance of preparation and design of the negotiation context and strategy; and the inclusion of victims’ rights as a central issue in the process