Colombia: Vote on Verification Mission Mandate Renewal*
This afternoon (30 October), the Security Council is expected to vote on a draft resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia for another year, until 31 October 2025.
The negotiations on the draft text apparently went smoothly, reflecting Council members’ unified support for the peace process in Colombia and for the work of the verification mission. The UK, the penholder on Colombia, circulated an initial draft of the resolution on 21 October and convened one round of negotiations on 23 October to discuss the text. On 24 October, the penholder circulated a first revised draft incorporating Council members’ comments. Members then submitted further comments on that draft, after which the penholder circulated a second revised draft on 25 October and placed it under silence procedure until Monday morning (28 October). China and Russia subsequently broke silence over language pertaining to women, peace and security (WPS). On Monday evening, the UK circulated a third revised text that included amendments to address these members’ concerns and placed it under silence procedure until mid-day yesterday (29 October). The draft passed silence and was subsequently put in blue.
The UK proposed a straightforward extension of the verification mission’s mandate, which was most recently extended for one year through resolution 2704 of 30 October 2023. The zero draft included several additions in the preambular section reflecting recent changes on the ground, including in the Colombian government’s dialogue efforts with armed groups operating in the country carried out as part of its “Total Peace” policy. These proposals were acceptable to all Council members and are reflected in the draft resolution in blue.
The draft text in blue references the dialogue process between the government and the guerrilla group Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), which stalled in May following the government’s decision to hold talks with one of the ELN’s regional fronts. On 3 August, the bilateral ceasefire between the government and the ELN, which had been observed for a year, expired, absent agreement on its extension.
Through resolution 2694 of 2 August 2023, the Council expanded the mission’s mandate to monitor and verify the implementation of the bilateral ceasefire between the Colombian government and the ELN that began on 3 August 2023, approving 68 additional international observers to that end. Ahead of this year’s mandate renewal negotiations, Colombia apparently conveyed to Council members that it would like for the additional international observers to be maintained, despite the ceasefire’s expiry. The Secretary-General’s most recent report on the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, dated 26 September, also emphasised the importance of retaining such capacities, noting that the mission’s deployment in the field allowed it to continue to monitor and follow up on developments, to maintain contact with local communities, and to facilitate preventive action when situations of “imminent armed contact” arose.
The draft resolution in blue reaffirms the authorisation for the additional deployments outlined in resolution 2694. It also includes text recalling that, when proposing the expansion of the verification mission’s mandate to monitor the ceasefire with the ELN, the Secretary-General proposed in a 13 June 2023 letter to keep the Council “closely abreast” of the situation on the ground. It seems that the penholder added this language to reflect Council members’ desire to receive more information from the deployed monitors about conflict dynamics between armed groups at local levels. The draft resolution in blue does not specify the method by which this information should be conveyed to the Council, however, leaving the decision on an appropriate format to the discretion of the UN Secretariat. The text also expresses the Council’s hope that the Colombian government and the ELN would reestablish their bilateral ceasefire.
The draft resolution in blue underlines the primary importance of the verification mission “in supporting the full implementation” of the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace signed in 2016 between the government of Colombia and the former rebel group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP). In addition, it acknowledges the role of the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Colombia in supporting political dialogue processes with armed groups operating in the country. It seems that in conversations with Council members ahead of the negotiations, the Special Representative requested the incorporation of such a reference. The draft text in blue specifies that the acknowledgment refers to the Special Representative’s support for processes “to date”—that is, with the ELN, factions of the Estado Mayor Central Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (EMC FARC-EP), and Segunda Marquetalia—and stresses the need to keep the Council informed of these activities. These qualifications were apparently introduced by the penholder in light of the apprehension previously expressed by some members, such as Russia and the US, about expanding the mission’s role to involvement in dialogues with groups characterised as criminal.
While Council members generally agreed with the penholder’s proposals in the zero draft, it seems that language suggested by other Council members on thematic issues required more discussion. China and Russia apparently opposed such additions, cautioning against over-emphasising certain issues and promoting a “Christmas-tree mandate”, a term which is used to describe a situation whereby Council members mandate a UN peace operation (that is, a peacekeeping operation or a special political mission) with so many tasks that they could risk diluting the mission’s efforts. A similar dynamic unfolded during last year’s mandate renewal negotiations. (For more information, see our 30 October 2023 What’s in Blue story.)
Among other issues, the “A3 plus” members (Algeria, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Guyana) apparently proposed language underlining the importance of implementing the ethnic chapter as a critical aspect of the 2016 agreement. They also suggested text referencing the effects of conflict on children and the role of women in peacebuilding efforts. During the negotiations, China and Russia noted the need to also emphasise the importance of other aspects of the 2016 accord, such as rural reform. In an apparent compromise, in addition to the text proposed by the “A3 plus”, language was added to the draft resolution in blue to reflect the crucial role of rural reform in tackling structural factors underlying the conflict.
It seems that WPS-related language proposed by Switzerland required more extensive discussion. This member apparently proposed a new paragraph emphasising the verification mission’s support for victims and survivors of conflict, including those affected by sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), through their referral to assistance mechanisms provided by relevant Colombian authorities. The paragraph also apparently called for the mission to report on its efforts in this regard, the continued provision of adequate training on SGBV for UN personnel, and an increase in the share of female international observers serving in the mission, which currently stands at approximately 27 percent. These proposals were apparently inspired in part by the statement of the civil society representative Beatriz Quintero, Co-founder of La Red Nacional de Mujeres (the National Women’s Network), at the Council’s 15 October Colombia meeting. Among other issues, Quintero called for more periodic reporting from the UN on violence against women in armed conflict in Colombia.
China and Russia opposed the proposed new paragraph, arguing, among other things, that this addition is unnecessary since gender-related matters are already incorporated in the mission’s work as a cross-cutting issue. As a result, in the first revised draft, the penholder integrated some of the Swiss-proposed language in an existing paragraph, instead of a standalone paragraph. China and Russia still felt that their concerns were not addressed, which led to additional language being struck from the second revised draft on adequate training on SGBV for UN personnel. It seems that the UN Secretariat assured Council members that the verification mission personnel are already receiving such training. This draft was put under silence procedure, which China and Russia broke over the Swiss-proposed language. In an attempt to reach compromise, additional Swiss-proposed language was removed. The draft resolution in blue eventually emphasises the verification mission’s “continuing support, within its current mandate, for victims and survivors of conflict including from sexual and gender-based violence, in particular their referral to safe and accessible assistance provided by the relevant Colombian authorities”.
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Post-script: On 30 October, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2754, renewing the mandate of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia for another year, until 31 October 2025.