What is the JFC Peace Monitor?

In January 2018 Justice for Colombia (JFC) launched the JFC Peace Monitor with the objective of facilitating permanent international accompaniment to the implementation of the Final Peace Agreement of the Havana Peace Talks signed between the Colombian Government and the FARC-EP in November 2016.

Between 2018 and 2020 the JFC Peace Monitor has taken four delegations to Colombia, involving 44 parliamentarians and trade union leaders. It has presented conclusions from those visits in both the British and Irish Parliaments.

What is JFC?

JFC is a London based organisation which was set up in 2002 by the British trade union movement to support Colombian civil society in its defence of human rights, labour rights, peace and social justice. It is supported today by both the British and Irish trade union movements.

You can visit the main JFC website here.

What has been JFCs role in the Havana Peace Talks?

Since the initiation of the Havana Peace Talks in 2012, JFC has played a central role in building international support; hosting peace events in the British and EU Parliaments, facilitating experience sharing with the protagonists in the Good Friday Agreement and South Africa, and campaigning internationally together with Colombian civil society to ensure the process reached a final deal.

What is the current context of the peace process?

Whilst the signing of the Final Peace Agreement in November 2016 brought hope to many for a more peaceful and more progressive future in Colombia, implementation has been slow and has met many hurdles. Since the signing of the deal, whilst there has been progress in ending the armed conflict between the Colombian state and the FARC-EP, there has been minimal progress on many other points of the agreement, and there has been an increase in assassinations with an alarming number of ex-FARC combatants and community activists murdered.

Who is behind the JFC Peace Monitor?

Justice for Colombia together with the generous support of the Irish public sector union Fórsa and with the backing of a significant number of other British and Irish trade unions, as well as the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and several parliamentarians, created the JFC Peace Monitor in January 2018.

For a full list of current supporters see here.

What is the objective of the JFC Peace Monitor?

The JFC Peace Monitor organises and hosts regular delegations to Colombia involving Members of Parliament and trade union leaders, with a focus on monitoring the advances and challenges for the implementation of the Final Peace Agreement with a particular trade union and human rights focus.

The JFC Peace Monitor will provide a platform though which international support can be mobilised in solidarity with those working to ensure that the significant social and political advances in the Final Peace Agreement can one day become a reality.

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