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Negotiating from the margins: The political participation of women in the peace processes of Colombia (1982-2016)

This book offers analyses and recommendations regarding the participation of women in peace processes so that peace agreements can become long-term social pacts that are both inclusive and committed to justice and equality.

 

With the signing of the “Final Agreement for Ending Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace,” Colombia enters a new phase. If the agreement between the national government and the FARC puts an end to a 52-year war and closes the negotiation stage, we will face the – even more complex – challenges of peacebuilding.

Through the Ideas for Peacebuilding collection, Dejusticia seeks to contribute to this task through thematic documents that offer diagnoses and proposals on some of the central institutional challenges of this new stage. In this book, we offer analyses and recommendations regarding the participation of women in peace processes in order to strengthen the channels of participation and, with it, contribute to the agreements becoming long-term social pacts that are both inclusive and committed to justice and equity.

The participation of women in peace processes in Colombia has been minimal. From the presidency of Belisario Betancur to that of the current president Juan Manuel Santos, women have represented only 40.7% of the negotiators and signers of the agreements established between the government and the armed actors. Added to this, women have encountered numerous obstacles when it comes to influencing the state and positioning a gender and women’s rights approach in institutions. Why have these obstacles been so persistent? How can they be overcome? Negotiating from the margins is a commitment to recover the memories of women who, through different strategies and forms of influence, have managed to impact peace processes. Thanks to the pressure exerted by these women, the current peace process has a Gender Subcommittee and incorporated this approach in a transversal fashion across the agreements. How to ensure that these advances achieved by women are not forgotten? What would be the minimum requirements for the gender and women’s rights approach to be central to the implementation of the agreements?

This book is part of Dejusticia’s Collection “Ideas for Peacebuilding”, which contributes to the task of building the peace by offering diagnoses and proposals on some of the central institutional challenges of this new stage on the road to peace.

 


Find the entire book here

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