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Peace in Colombia has been a long time coming, began Juan Carlos Cuéllar, representative of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), as he spoke at a World Council of Churches (WCC) panel discussion titled "The things that make for peace in Colombia” on 9 April.

In a nation marked by decades of alarming numbers of internal displacement and confinement mainly affecting Indigenous and Afro-Colombians, the walk toward peace is complicated—but the World Council of Churches (WCC) is deepening collaboration on Colombia’s vision for total peace.

Justapaz—the Mennonite Christian Association for Justice, Peace and Non-violent Actions—shared with the World Council of Churches (WCC) an overview of its work related to peace-building in Colombia.

In a keynote address at the International Conference for Reconciliation in Colombia, Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, World Council of Churches (WCC) programme director for Public Witness and Diakonia, reflected on “Ecumenical Experiences and Learnings in the Construction of the Peace.”

An international online seminar, “Brazilian Tragedy: A Risk to Our Common Home?” brought religious, social and human rights leaders together with prominent experts on 4-6 May to discuss how the process of deconstructing democracy in Brazil in recent years has led the country to multiple crises.

Upon the 20th anniversary of the UN Resolution 1325, the question is still being answered as to whether women’s important work in peace and security is getting the visibility it deserves.

Within the context of confinement to prevent the spread of COVID-19, multifaceted violence persists in Colombia, as well as violations of the rights of social leaders, Indigenous, Afro-Colombian and peasant populations.

A delegation comprised of two church leaders and a victim of death threats who lost family members due to the conflict in Colombia was hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in New York, 27-30 May. All three spoke with member states of the United Nations Security Council about the worsening situation in relation to the peace accords with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the stalled dialogue with the National Liberation Army.

“We express our deepest concern with regard to the search for peace in Colombia, and we call upon the Colombian government and all armed actors to refrain from targeting social leaders and communities in conflict zones”, said Rev. Frank Chikane, moderator of the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), in light of the recent killings of social leaders in Micoahumado, South Bolivar, and elsewhere around the country.

“I didn’t have any document that says who I am, so I started to look for answers that would help me to understand the real definition of my condition as a stateless person”, said Maha Mamo in a video interview published by World Council of Churches communications.

As Colombia strives to pave the road to just peace, new death threats against social, union and religious leaders and institutions were issued by paramilitaries earlier this week. The World Council of Churches (WCC) is closely following the developments and reiterates its full support to those committed to working for peace in the country.