UN envoy says Colombia 'remains today more peaceful' as armed group threat continues

The UN on Tuesday said Colombia's peace process continues to yield results, while cautioning that armed groups are still wreaking havoc in rural communities nearly a decade after the landmark Peace Agreement.

"The holding of largely peaceful and more inclusive elections has been a feature of Colombia's positive evolution under the Peace Agreement," Miroslav Jenca, special representative of the secretary-general for Colombia, told the Security Council, stressing that "it is essential for the country to stay on this trajectory."

Describing the scope of the peace process's achievements, Jenca called the disarmament of "Latin America's oldest and largest guerrilla group" a landmark feat, adding: "Nearly 10 years later, more than 11,000 men and women from the former FARC-EP remain actively engaged in their reintegration into society."

He cautioned, however, that the process "has been replete with challenges, given the fragile socioeconomic, infrastructural, and security conditions in rural areas where many former combatants have settled."

Pointing to the mixed realities of the security situation, Jenca noted that "the realities on the ground vary from region to region" and that "ongoing conflict dynamics are highly complex."

While "Colombia remains today more peaceful than during peak years of the conflict," he warned that "a number of rural areas are still strongly impacted by the presence of illegal armed groups."

"We condemn, among others, their increased recruitment and use of children," he stressed.

Jenca affirmed that the UN's Verification Mission "stands ready to continue to assist the Colombians along this path," describing it as "well worth following."

Also speaking at the council, Colombia's Foreign Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio Mapy noted the significance of an "irreversible" path to peace and hailed the efforts of the UN's Verification Mission.

She acknowledged the liquidity crisis that the UN is experiencing but urged the council not to implement further cuts in this mission.

Emphasizing the importance of support by the international community towards peace in the country, she said that peace in Colombia would mean "peace in the region."