"A Network for Peace and Security in Colombia," a new partnership at UN75 Forum

PASO Colombia announced “A Network for Peace and Security in Colombia,” a new partnership that aims to promote the inclusive rural development of campesinos economies that have been affected by conflict for several years.

During the UN75 Global Governance Forum, held virtually on September 16th and 17th, PASO Colombia announced “A Network for Peace and Security in Colombia,” a new partnership which aims to promote the inclusive rural development of peasant economies in the country’s territories most affected by conflict, the presence of armed groups, and crops of illicit use. The partnership was presented by PASO Colombia Director Juan Fernando Lucio during the Forum's Peace and Security Partnerships Track, where several other partnerships from other organizations were also presented.

The Peace and Security Partnerships Track was led by Nobel Peace Laureate and former Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, who commented,

"These are the type of initiatives that encourage the whole world to continue to fight for peace, security and for other ideas that we need today in such challenging times."

About the Partnership

"A Network for Peace and Security in Colombia" will address the present challenges facing territories like the increase of violence, the murder of social leaders, and the effects associated with COVID-19. Based on a new form of governance that multiplies local collective intelligence, this partnership takes advantage of the assets in the territories, and generates synergies with existing programs and projects to scale them up. The goal is to transform beneficiaries into project partners, changing the dynamics of commercialization, impacting productivity, strengthening local governance networks and territorial organizations, empowering women and youth, developing resilience to emergencies associated with the presence of armed groups, and providing an appropriate response to the spread of COVID-19. This partnership integrates the collaborative efforts of organizations that include the United Nations Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Sustaining Peace, Organization of American States, Swedish International Development Agency, Colombia Peace Fund, University of Notre Dame, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, International Youth Foundation, The Scaling Up Community of Practice, and One Earth Future Foundation’s PASO Colombia program.

PASO Colombia partnership graphic

This diagram has been designed using resources from Freepik.com

The approach to this partnership is based on working with rural communities as partners of their own development, building a Territorial Work Plan to integrate actions for sustainable production, market creation, the strengthening of production infrastructures, and collective entrepreneurship. The communities are paid to implement this Work Plan while they learn new skills in the process. All of this in a framework focused on the renewal of the socioeconomic fabric, environmental protection and the empowerment of women.

Read the full concept note for the “A Network for Peace and Security in Colombia" partnership

About the UN75 Global Governance Forum

One Earth Future Foundation and a group of other institutions hosted the UN75 Global Governance Forum, designed to facilitate discussion on issues of critical importance such as inclusive rural development, peace building, human rights, climate change and gender equality. The Forum provided a virtual meeting space to bring together organizations from around the world to develop innovative proposals to address these issues. It was a gathering of diverse entities from civil society, the private sector, philanthropic organizations, academia, and other institutions to join the global conversation initiated by the United Nations in the context of its 75th anniversary. The Forum’s goal was to forge the design and implementation of strategies to address the increasingly complex problems arising today and in the coming years.

Scalable Partnerships for the Future We Want

The UN75 Global Governance Forum was organized around four thematic pillars: Peace and Security, Sustainable Development, Human Rights and Humanitarian Action, and Climate Governance. Across them, plenary presentations and breakout groups worked to catalyze new forms of multi-stakeholder partnerships to develop proposals, scalable and replicable, that will contribute to fulfilling the official commitments of the UN75 Intergovernmental Declaration.

Find out more about the UN75 Global Governance Forum and its outcomes here.