The signing of the Final Peace Agreement five years ago generated hope and inspiration in Colombia and throughout the international community, and Secretary-General António Guterres said  that the achievements are undeniable, and the country’s people should be proud. “As we take stock today, we can confidently affirm that the implementation of the peace process is taking deep roots,” Mr. Guterres said in Bogotá during an event commemorating the 2016 peace deal between the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC-EP, that ended the Western hemisphere’s longest-running war.

In Colombia to mark the fifth anniversary of the peace accord between the Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC-EP, UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited a small mountainside village he described as a “laboratory of peace”, where former combatants and civilians are living and working side-by-side. The Secretary-General visited the northern town of Llano Grande, in the Department of Antioquia, along with Colombia’s President, Ivan Duque, as well as the former FARC-EP commander, Rodrigo Londoño. 
 

“History has shown that conflicts do not emerge out of thin air, nor are they inevitable”, Secretary-General António Guterres told the UN Security Council. Too often, they result from lack of access to basic services and life staples – such as food, water and health care – or from gaps in security, laws and governance systems.

Governments need to show the necessary ambition on mitigation, adaptation, and finance in a balanced way, and they can’t settle for the “lowest common denominator”, the UN Secretary-General said in Glasgow where crucial climate negotiations are in the final stretch. Meanwhile, 13 countries launched a new alliance to end gas and oil while the cities’ theme took centre stage today. António Guterres told delegates that he was inspired by the mobilization of civil society, including young people, indigenous communities, women’s groups, cities and private sector, highlighting that the climate action struggle requires all hands-on deck.

Diversity should be viewed as a powerful benefit, rather than a threat, particularly in countries experiencing conflict, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, during a Security Council debate focused on the issue of inclusion. The meeting was held to examine the relation between the various root causes of armed conflict, such as inequality and poverty. “Exclusion and inequalities of all kinds - economic, social and cultural - come with a devastating toll to security. Indeed, rising inequalities are a factor of rising instability,” said Mr. Guterres.