In early September, peace talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) that began last October entered their 14th cycle in Havana, Cuba. The parties reached an agreement on rural agrarian development--the first item of an agreed agenda for the talks--in May. Discussions about political participation are now underway. The remainder of the substantive issues on the peace agenda --DDR (disarmament, demobilization and reintegration), victims’ rights to truth and reparations, and illicit drugs--have been touched on briefly at the peace table.

A conference at USIP in April 2013 focused on the issue of Land and the Peace Agenda. This one-and-a-half day public conference will convene former and current Jennings Randolph peace scholars and senior fellows, as well as numerous USIP grantees, to focus on the final three issues on Colombia’s peace agenda.  The forum will offer  these, and other leading experts on Colombia, an opportunity to exchange ideas with policymakers and the general public on the topics of the current negotiations in Cuba.

In total, there will be approximately 20 different speakers, who will each present briefly on their work, divided among five different moderated panels. Further details on conference topics and speakers can be seen on the agenda.

Conference attendees will range from government officials to the general public, and academics to practitioners. Join the conversation and send questions for the panelists via Twitter with #USIPColombia.

Day 1:

• Ending the Conflict: Armed Actors, Disarmament, Demobilization, and  Reintegration
• Drugs, Violence, and the Agenda for Peace

Day 2:

• From Victims to Citizens:  Memory, Justice, Human Rights, and Internal Displacement
• Beyond the Peace Accords: Strengthening Infrastructures for Peace
• Looking to the Future: Lessons For and From Peacebuilding in Colombia

The full agenda provides more detail.