Colombia focus at NILAS

On February 5th, 2025, the Nordic Institute for Latin American Studies (NILAS) organized an open seminar on the current challenges and complexities of peacebuilding in Colombia. Eight years after the Peace Agreement between the Colombian Government and the FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – Army of the People), progress is evident, but major challenges persist. During this period, the COVID-19 pandemic, two presidential elections, social protests, negotiations with the ELN (National Liberation Army) and the escalating violence in some regions have reshaped the political landscape.

The seminar was chaired by Juanita Esguerra-Rezk (University of Gothenburg/Gust researcher at NILAS) and featured an engaging discussion with three distinguished panelists which brought unique perspectives on peacebuilding in Colombia: Pontus Ohrstedt (Folke Bernadotte Academy and Sweden’s advisor to the peace dialogues between the Colombian government and the ELN guerrilla), Priscyll Anctil Avoine (Swedish Defense University), and Lani Anaya (Church of Sweden).

The conversation highlighted four major themes, the complexity of peacebuilding, emphasizing the issue of core state-building efforts in Colombia, current negotiations, humanitarian situation, the relevance of peacebuilding beyond the state and the international dimension of Colombia’s conflict