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From 29 June – 3 July 2026, ABColombia accompanied two Colombian women human rights defenders from the Amazon region —Tania Ruiz Cardona from the Social Vicariate of Puerto Leguízamo (Putumayo) and Gerardina Cardozo from the Social Ministry of the Diocese of San Vicente del Caguán (Caquetá)—during their visit to England. Both work closely with women and children in their territories to strengthen local economies and protect the environment. Their visit formed part of a wider delegation of Amazonian defenders from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, co-organised by CAFOD, when they met with parliamentarians, officials from the FCDO’s civic space, FCDO Forestry and International Climate Finance Team, and deputy head of Latin America Department at the FCDO. They also met with donors, and civil society organisations. 

During the visit, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women, Peace and Security and the Parliamentary Human Rights Group, in collaboration with ABColombia and CAFOD, hosted a roundtable discussion on the role of grassroots women in Colombia’s peacebuilding efforts. The event was Chaired by Baroness Hodgson. The Colombian Deputy Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Nancy Benitez was one of the panellists. The discussion centred around the importance of ensuring that Colombia’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP 1325) moves beyond national commitments and becomes a reality in conflict-affected territories. 

The panellists emphasised that Colombian women have long been at the forefront of peacebuilding. Gerardina Cardozo highlighted the decades of work carried out by women’s organisations to advance the Women, Peace and Security agenda and secured the adoption of Colombia’s NAP 1325. However, she stressed that many communities have yet to see its impact on the ground. 

Women, particularly in areas of conflict, continue to face serious risks, including displacement, confinement, threats, forced recruitment and gender-based violence. Despite this, they remain key actors in defending their communities and promoting peace. As Gerardina expressed, their lived experience of conflict gives them a unique understanding of both its impacts, and the conditions needed for lasting peace. 

Women also played a crucial role in the negotiations and adoption of the 2016 Peace Agreement, but many Colombian women’s organisations and leaders found themselves increasingly sidelined from the spaces where implementation priorities were being set. As noted by Louise Winstanley during the discussion, the development of the NAP1325 helped enabled women in all their diversity to shape national policy on women, peace, and security. 

Colombia’s experience shows that women’s meaningful participation is essential not only in negotiating peace, but also in sustaining it and she suggested that this principle should extend beyond the signing of an accord: the development of a NAP1325 after a peace agreement can itself be a mechanism for sustaining women’s participation in decision-making and keeping their voices at the centre of peacebuilding. Had such a process been prioritised earlier, it could have helped to maintain Colombian women’s influence over the direction and implementation of the Peace Accord, Louise stressed.  

Turning commitments into reality 

Participants also emphasised that what remains is ensuring that the NAP1325 is implemented effectively at the local level. Gerardina noted that it should be widely known and accessible to women in the territories so they can use it to claim their rights and hold institutions accountable. 

However, implementation is particularly difficult in areas with limited State presence, where women human rights defenders face ongoing security threats and protection mechanisms are vastly inadequate. Strengthening support networks and ensuring women’s safety are essential to enable their continued participation in decision-making processes. 

Women defending the Amazon

The discussion also highlighted the vital role women play in protecting the Colombian Amazon. Women are leading initiatives to restore ecosystems, promote traditional agricultural practices and develop sustainable local livelihoods. These efforts not only support local economies but also aim to preserve cultural identity and strengthen communities’ connection to their territories.  

Despite these contributions, women face significant challenges, including the impact of illegal mining, drug trafficking and the presence of armed groups in their territories. Participants stressed the need for increased, accessible funding for local organisations and community-led initiatives, ensuring that solutions are designed and led locally. 

Ongoing challenges and the way ahead 

On 21 June, Colombia witnessed the closest presidential election contest in recent history, between Iván Cepeda of the left-wing Pacto Histórico, – a continuity candidate for Gustavo Petro’s political project, and de la Espriella, a far-right populist outsider with no previous political experience. Abelardo de la Espriella won by less than 1% margin. The result underscored deep political polarisation, and heightened concerns over the future of the Peace Accord and the potential weakening of the Transitional Justice System, and the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), as de la Espriella said repeatedly during his campaign that he wanted to bring these to an end.  

Equally concerning is the new government’s stance on women, peace and security. In June 2026, a judge ruled that De la Espriella’s comments about women voters and harassment of a female journalist constituted gender-based political violence, raising serious concerns about women’s rights, civic participation and the protection of women in public life. 

This comes at a time when women’s organisations are facing funding cuts and increased pressure, threatening their ability to continue their work and provide essential support to women and girls victims of sexual and gender-based violence, especially in the territories most affected by the conflict.  

What the UK can do 

The UK has an important role to play in supporting Colombia’s Women, Peace and Security agenda. This includes maintaining Colombia as a priority country in its own National Action Plan, supporting women’s organisations working on gender-based violence and access to justice, and ensuring continued support for the implementation of the Peace Accord. 

Specifically:  

– The UK is currently revising its National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. It is essential that Colombia remains a priority country within the plan and that the UK expands the areas in which it provides support. 

-The UK should also ensure continued support for women’s organisations working with women and girls affected by sexual and gender-based violence, enabling them to bring their cases before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace and Colombia’s ordinary justice system.  

-As rural areas continue to suffer from a near-total absence of State protection, survivors rely heavily on local NGOs and informal community networks for violence prevention programmes and women’s shelters. Increased funding for these organisations and services is therefore essential. 

– As penholder on UN Security Council, it is essential the UK ensures the renewal of the UNSC Madate of the Mission of Verification in Colombia this October and uses its political influence with the new government to maintain a focus on the implementation of the Peace Accord.  

– The UK’s International Development Minister has made it clear that the UK is “unwavering” in its commitment to the WPS agenda. It is essential therefore to support to women’s national and grassroots organisations in Colombia who will be working to guarantee the implementation of the NAP1325 and therefore by default also the Gender Provisions in the Peace Accord.  

– The UK Government is also part of the Informal Experts Group (IEG) on WPS at the UN Security Council in 2023 they did a report on Colombia. We are therefore asking that the UK Government representative on the IEG on WPS, next year, to invite Colombian Women Defenders to speak to this committee about progress on the implementation of the Colombian NAP1325. 

Sustained international support will be essential to ensure that Colombian women can continue their vital work as peacebuilders and defenders of human rights in their territories, including the Amazon.