Istanbul:Women must play a meaningful role in shaping peacebuilding efforts in Gaza, a senior UN Women official emphasized, drawing on lessons from Colombia's historic peace process with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
According to Anadolu Agency – English, Belen Sanz Luque, UN Women's regional director for Europe and Central Asia, stressed the need to ensure women's voices are part of peacebuilding efforts in conflict-ridden areas like Gaza. Reflecting on her experience as a UN Women representative in Colombia, Sanz highlighted that sustainable peace involves more than ending hostilities and requires the participation of women in negotiations and political decisions.
Founded in 1964, the FARC was a guerrilla group that emerged amid deep land inequality and political exclusion in Colombia. Following four years of negotiations starting in 2012, the Colombian government and the FARC signed a peace agreement in 2016, leading to the group's disarmament and transition into civilian politics. Sanz emphasized the crucial role of women's leadership in the Colombian peace process and the importance of grassroots networks for shaping peace decisions.
The Colombian peace agreement addressed structural inequalities and included over 100 provisions on gender equality and women's rights. A Gender Sub-Commission helped incorporate women's rights into the agreement, involving consultations with women's organizations and conflict victims. Despite these efforts, challenges in implementing the provisions persist. Sanz noted that women's participation must continue beyond the signing of an agreement to achieve sustainable peace.
Sanz also highlighted the limited representation of women at negotiating tables, citing data that only 5% of peace agreements in 2025 included women as negotiators. She called for mechanisms to ensure women's participation and emphasized that peace agreements are more likely to be successfully implemented when women and civil society are involved. UN Women collaborates with women's networks and state actors to strengthen women's access to justice and public institutions, advocating for the protection of women's and girls' rights.