Colombia: Women’s Rights and Gender Equality MEPs conclude visit 

The delegation took stock of the peacebuilding process in Colombia, especially the progress made in the implementation of the gender perspective of the Peace Agreement. They also looked into proposals of the government regarding the right to abortion in the context of the landmark ruling of the Constitutional Court Decision C-055 of 2022, which recognizes women's reproductive freedom by decriminalizing abortion up to 24 weeks.

The visit also offered an opportunity to assess the political and social reactions to the new political arena in Colombia that includes many women rights defenders and hear the views of fellow parliamentarians, members of government and representatives of civil society as well as international organisations working in the area of women’s rights, gender equality and LGBTIQ+ rights.

At the end of the trip, the delegation Chair Robert Biedroń (S&D, Poland) said: “Colombia has been faced with decades of conflict, with peace still not having been achieved in the whole territory. Implementation of the peace agreement will represent a long process, with Colombia facing many obstacles to achieving the government’s objective of total peace, promoting equality for all and healing all the scars left from such a long and turbulent conflict. However, with such a comprehensive and victim-centric Peace Agreement, and strong civil society that managed to push for respect for sexual and reproductive health and rights, including changes in the access to abortion, there are significant positive developments that Colombia can teach us. These include best practices that will be very much needed after the end of the war of Russia against Ukraine. On the other side, I was saddened to learn about the threats women politicians face in Colombia, a problem also in the EU and globally. Closer cooperation in all these areas could help us provide better solutions to common problems. While we see backlash against women’s rights occurring throughout the world, including the EU, here in Colombia we observed strong multiparty support for strengthening gender equality, women’s rights and LGBTQI+ rights as a way of safeguarding peace and democracy. Our delegation stressed the utmost importance of continued EU support for the peace process in Colombia as well as financial, technical and political support for gender equality policies by the government and efforts of JEP (the Special Jurisdiction for Peace), in the future macro cases. We hope to continue our cooperation also in international fora regarding the promotion of the rights of women and fundamental rights.”

Programme of the visit

MEPs met the Vice-President and Minister of Equality Francia Márquez, the President of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace Magistrate Roberto Carlos Vidal, President of the Legal Commission of Congress for Women’s Equity, Senator María José Pizarro, as well as the Vice-Minister of Public Health, Dr. Jaime Urrego, and the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Franscisco Coy.

The delegation also exchanged views with negotiators of ongoing ceasefire processes and those representing various mechanisms of the Peace Agreement such as the International Accompaniment Component. They met with representatives of civil society working on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and on Colombia’s National Action Plan 1325. Together with representatives of EU Member States, they assessed the impact of gender measures in EU external action on the ground.

Members of the delegation

The delegation, led by the Chair of the FEMM Committee, Robert Biedroń (S&D, Poland), was formed by Vera Tax (S&D, Netherlands), Karen Melchior (Renew, Denmark), Andżelika Możdżanowska (ECR, Poland), Isabella Tovaglieri (ID, Italy) and Eugenia Rodríguez Palop (The Left, Spain).