Since the signing of the peace agreement in Colombia with the FARC-EP guerillas in 2016, we have been actively supporting the participation of conflict-affected women in its implementation. In our programme, we are committed to ensuring that their experiences and concerns are included in the transition to a sustainable, peaceful society.

In the fall of 2019, we brought together peace activists from Colombia, Nepal and the Philippines to share their experiences of armed conflict and of the subsequent peace efforts in their countries and to benefit from each other's expertise. As different as the political contexts are, the women found many similarities. The solidarity they felt at the meeting gives them the strength to continue their often arduous peace work.

We have been organising Women's Peace Tables with our local partners since 2015, with the aim of strengthening women's participation in peace processes and making their peace work visible. They have become a proven instrument for achieving these goals.

It was a unique exchange that we were able to organise with our partners in the Philippines in December: at various events, two representatives of the Gender Working Group of the Colombian Truth Commission exchanged their experiences with peace activists from the Philippines. Many moments of recognition and understanding emerged at during these exchanges. Our programme managers Andrea Filippi and Karin Widmer were there.