Public participation is a central element of the peace process in Colombia. For decades, many social sectors, in a country with immense geographic and social diversity, have demanded active inclusion. President Gustavo Petro’s government has adopted a holistic approach to peace, termed ‘Paz Total’ ('total peace'). This embraces the implementation of the 2016 peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP), talks with all remaining non-state armed groups and urban criminal structures, as well as the reform of social, drug and security policies. Yet Petro, the country’s first left-wing president, faces a complex situation, with uncertain parliamentary majorities and multiple armed groups disputing control over populations, illegal economies and territories.
Talks between the government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group, a cornerstone of the wider peace process, are guided by the negotiation roadmap laid out in the Mexico Agreement of February 2023 – the ‘New Dialogue Agenda’. Participation is central to the parties’ ambition for a major national pact on economic, political and social transformations. The first three agenda items suggest a two-year process to gather support from all political and social sectors: first, a participation model is to be designed through consultations; second, a participatory assessment will identify the root causes of the conflict; and, finally, policies and development plans will be adopted to address these causes and enable the overcoming of the conflict.
As part of the initial negotiation setup, the parties have devised some innovations. Petro named a pluralistic delegation of 14 members – six women and eight men – including social leaders, business representatives and environmental activists, as well as a political opponent. In agreement with the government, the ELN appointed a so-called ‘Gestoria de Paz’ which currently consists of four of its members released from prison, working freely in Colombia for the benefit of the peace process. The parties have also decided to negotiate under the principle of rolling implementation, meaning that partial agreements, especially in relation to the situation in conflict-affected regions, are implemented as the talks move along.
On 9 June 2023, the parties signed an agreement on public participation. A National Participation Committee with over 80 members drawn from 30 social and political sectors, about 40 per cent of whom are women, is tasked with designing a model for participation. Holding sectoral and regional consultations, the committee has to submit a proposal to the negotiating table within six months. The committee was inaugurated on 3 August 2023 during a mass event in Bogota, and its reception, so far, has been positive. In parallel, the parties are implementing a ceasefire with the explicit purpose of creating a climate in which active and inclusive participation is possible.
Through broad consultations, members of the public will discuss how they want to participate, laying the basis for broad societal buy-in for the peace talks and the ensuing transformations. The committee faces an enormous task. While Colombia has a lot of experience with participatory exercises, it faces broad scepticism about their legitimacy and efficacy. Civil society actors have argued that participation spaces have not been sufficiently inclusive, that the government has not taken proposals generated through participation into account in its policies, and, when state institutions have considered them, there has been a lack of effective implementation.
Will this ambitious participation process be different? The National Participation Committee includes a broad representation of society – an important prerequisite. Yet, the committee will have to devise methodologies to build common ground among diverse participants, rather than, as has often been the case in the past, just gathering a multiplicity of proposals. Colombians, whether they participate directly or not, will have to feel that their views and interests are represented and that the ensuing proposals have broad legitimacy. This will require communicating and explaining the proceedings in innovative ways.
For the ELN, public participation has been a central demand. President Petro shares this view, and so the two parties have put participation at the heart of the peace talks. They are bound to face many political, methodological and security challenges. Tensions within the committee and between societal representatives and the negotiating parties will be inevitable. Success will depend on the disposition of a broad sample of Colombian society to participate actively and find shared solutions, as well as on the capacity of the Colombian state to deliver on the promise of real change in people’s lives.
