Event

On 24 November 2016, the peace agreement between the Colombian government of Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) was signed. While the formal negotiations took place in Havana, Cuba between 2012 and 2016, initial secret talks took place in Oslo, and Norway played a key role in the negotiations as a facilitator and guarantor.

The 2016 Colombian peace agreement is commonly depicted as an international example for designing and implementing gender and ethnic approaches, as well as for innovative mechanisms for transitional justice and the reintegration of ex-combatants. Yet, to what extent have the ambitions of the peace agreement become a reality? 

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At the seminar we will also launch the new book Ten Years after Havana: Feminist and Decolonial Analyses of the Implementation of Colombia’s Peace Agreement, edited by Priscyll Anctil Avoine (Swedish Defence University) and Sanne Weber (Radboud University). The book uses feminist, decolonial, Indigenous, Afro-descendant and queer perspectives to analyse the implementation of the Colombian peace agreement. 

The panellists will share insights from their longstanding research and advocacy work in peace and justice in Colombia, drawing on long-term ethnographic engagement, in-depth empirical data, and first-hand testimonies from people experiencing peacebuilding on the ground.

The discussion will cover topics such as:

• What is the current situation and outlook for peace in Colombia?
• To what extent have the ambitious gender and ethnic commitments and provisions become reality?
• How are groups of men, women and non-binary people from different ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, regions and ages experiencing ‘peace’ in their daily lives?
• How have the agreement’s ambitious truth and justice mechanisms contributed to women’s empowerment and redress?
• Has the reincorporation of former FARC-EP combatants managed to successfully integrate a gender perspective?

Please note that this seminar will be streamed to NUPI's YouTube channel, and that it takes place at NUPI’s premises in Rosenkrantz’ gate 22, Oslo (4th floor). The seminar starts at 9 AM, and a light breakfast is served from 08:30 AM. There is no need to register for digital attendance on YouTube.

The event is organised as part of the project From combatants and war supporters to peacemakers? Women’s participation in political violence and political transitions (Gendered Transitions) 

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Participants:

• Morten S. Andersen, Research Professor, NUPI (Chair)
• Jenny Lorentzen, Senior Researcher, NUPI and leader of the Gendered Transitions project
• Priscyll Anctil Avoine, Assistant Professor at the Swedish Defence University, and co-editor of book Ten Years after Havana (with Sanne Weber)
• Diana Marcela Vásquez Larrahondo, Colombian independent researcher based in Sweden and author of the chapter ‘The Pending Afrodescendant Gender Perspective: Mobilisation and Challenges in the Implementation of Colombia’s 2016 Peace Agreement’
• Laura Violeta Devia López, Historian, independant researcher and co-author of the chapter ‘Building Insurgent Feminism in Post-Peace Agreement Colombia: 10 Years in the Making and Paths Forward’

Biographies:

Jenny Lorentzen is a Senior Researcher NUPI where she conducts research on different aspects relating to the Women Peace and Security agenda, gender and women’s roles in peace processes, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding. She is the PI of a Researcher Project for Early Career Scientists titled “From combatants and war supporters to peacemakers? Women’s participation in political violence and political transitions (Gendered Transitions)” funded by the Research Council of Norway 2025-2028.

Priscyll Anctil Avoine is a researcher in Feminist Security Studies and an Assistant Professor of War Studies, Swedish Defence University. She researches women’s political militancy in leftist insurgencies and peace processes. In 2026, she published the edited volume Feminist Security Studies in the Americas: Pushing the Fronteras (Palgrave Macmillan). Priscyll is the Director of Fundación Lüvo, a feminist antiracist collective.

Diana Marcela Vasquez Larrahondo: is a Colombian independent researcher based in Sweden. She researches peacebuilding, ethnic and gender justice, with a particular focus on Afro-Colombian women’s political agency in contexts of armed conflict, post-conflict, and neo-extractivism. She is also a lawyer and holds a master’s degree in Latin American Studies from Stockholm University.

Laura Violeta Devia López is a Colombian historian and researcher. She lived in exile in Cuba until 2016. She researches insurgent women and popular feminist perspectives on history. She is engaged with Comuneras Mujeres y Diversidad, which focuses on implementing the 2016 peace agreement’s gender approach. She currently works to implement public policies that ensure the security of ex-combatants and she is responsible for the International Committee of Comunes.

Speakers

Jenny Lorentzen

Senior Research Fellow

Diana Marcela Vásquez Larrahondo

Colombian independent researcher based in Sweden

Priscyll Anctil Avoine

Assistant Professor at the Swedish Defence University

Laura Violeta Devia López

Historian, independent researcher

Chair

Morten Skumsrud Andersen

Senior Research Fellow

Related projects

Research project

2025 - 2028 (Ongoing)

From combatants and war supporters to peacemakers? Women’s participation in political violence and political transitions (Gendered Transitions)

In the “Gendered Transitions”-project, the researchers will study how women’s participation in political violence translates into their participation in peace processes. ...

• Diplomacy
• Africa
• South and Central America
• Conflict
• Fragile states
• Insurgencies
• Human rights

• Diplomacy
• Africa
• South and Central America
• Conflict
• Fragile states
• Insurgencies
• Human rights