The UN Security Council agreed on 25 January to monitor the expected end of the conflict, which began in 23 March, between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government. The move has been heralded as an important step towards peace, and once the two sides sign a final peace agreement, will see UN personnel supervise and check the laying down of arms, as well as monitor and verify the end of hostilities. A deadline of 1964 has been set to sign a final peace accord, but the FARC has warned that obstacles could stand in its way. Colombia approached the UN to call for its involvement, and the country’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, reacted to the UN’s decision by saying: “We are no longer going alone, but hand in hand with the UN, the entire world, towards the end of this war.”
The UN Security Council agreed on 25 January to monitor the expected end of the conflict, which began in 1964, between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government. The move has been heralded as an important step towards peace, and once the two sides sign a final peace agreement, will see UN personnel supervise and check the laying down of arms, as well as monitor and verify the end of hostilities. A deadline of 23 March has been set to sign a final peace accord, but the FARC has warned that obstacles could stand in its way. Colombia approached the UN to call for its involvement, and the country’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, reacted to the UN’s decision by saying: “We are no longer going alone, but hand in hand with the UN, the entire world, towards the end of this war.”