In its Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), the Government of Canada has committed to an international development policy that advances the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda. Central to this commitment is the understanding that women’s meaningful participation and inclusion in peace efforts greatly increases the likelihood of sustaining peace in the long term. To this end, Canada has made significant assistance contributions to the WPS agenda in post-conflict Colombia. The 2016 signing of the Final Peace Agreement between the Colombian government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) put an end to 53 years of civil conflict. Since then, supported by international organizations and donor aid, Colombia has sought a lasting peace through national transition and development strategies. In accordance with its FIAP, Canadian aid contributions have had moderate success in supporting transitional justice, inclusion, human security and multilateral cooperation to advance Colombian women’s peace work. However, much work remains to be done to Canada’s FIAP if it is to advance a truly ‘feminist’ peace and security agenda for all.

Summary Overview

In the years that have followed Colombia’s protracted and violent civil conflict, enormous efforts have been made internally and externally to promote sustained peace. Canada has made significant funding contributions to this process, both indirectly through the Secretary-General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) and directly through the provision of bilateral aid. While aggregate global aid allocations to gender equality initiatives have grown fragmented and stagnant, Canada increased its gender equality aid allocation nearly eight-fold from 2015 to 2020. This research aims to assess these contributions against the values and goals of the FIAP, determine key themes and challenges, and suggest policy prescriptions for a robust and inclusive WPS agenda.

Research Approach

In order to assess Canada’s financing for WPS objectives in Colombia, internet-based research was conducted to compile a range of sources on the subject.

To contextualize this research within the scope of contemporary approaches to financing for WPS, parameters were implemented as exclusion criteria to eliminate sources. As this research reflects primarily on Canadian donor assistance aligned with the FIAP, sources published prior to its 2017 implementation were generally excluded. Research was drawn solely from either government or institutional data published online by the Government of Canada, OECD or United Nations, or from academic publications of peer-reviewed sources. The inclusion of grey literature and financial reporting published by the Canadian government and international organizations was essential; it situated these findings within the context of institutional and state- reported data regarding global and national peacebuilding efforts.

An assessment of secondary academic sources on this subject lends itself to a feminist analysis of Canadian development assistance, articulating the nuances of Colombian women’s peace work and the wider landscape of women’s peacebuilding more generally. As significant critiques of state-led, institutional approaches to peacebuilding emerge from both academic and grassroots sources, it is vital to ground a comprehensive assessment of this subject from a multidimensional vantage point. While there are limitations in the amount and scope of available data in this particular area, institutional data in combination with secondary sources provide a reliable means of assessing financing for the WPS agenda in the Colombian context.

Key Findings

From the range of data employed to inform this analysis, common themes emerged to illuminate both the successes and challenges for Colombian women’s peace work, and the WPS agenda more broadly. This research highlights five key findings of interest for further consideration and study:

Global WPS efforts suffer from chronic underfunding

The WPS agenda remains critically underfunded, especially in regards to official assistance to women’s organizations. In its 2020-2024 Strategy, the PBF reports that this challenge is increasingly exacerbated by an erosion of international cooperation fuelled by rising protectionism and nationalist sentiment among global powers who are traditionally major assistance donors.

Discursive issues hamper the vision of WPS

The WPS agenda is largely hindered by discursive ambiguity and the essentialist framing of women’s role in peace work. The FIAP does little to counter this due to its lack of clarity on its conception of ‘feminist’ ideals, its ‘women and children syndrome’ which frames women as vulnerable victims, and general lack of sensitivity to forms of gender expression that lie outside the binary definitions of men and women.

Conflict drivers still remain in Colombia

The mobilization and political demands of women and feminist groups were pivotal in Colombian peace processes and the 2016 Final Peace Agreement. However, more must be done to address persistent instability and conflict drivers. Transformational rights- based approaches will be necessary to achieve the full and meaningful inclusion of women in sustained peace and post-conflict development.

Moderate progress on the WPS agenda with Canadian funding

Canadian funding of WPS initiatives in Colombia have made inroads to secure a more holistic, intersectional and justice- based approach to peacebuilding. While gaps remain, Canadian funds have aided the PBF in the implementation of UNSCR 1325, funded community-led, gender-inclusive projects on landmine clearance, and targeted gender- sensitive judicial capacity -building to support Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQI+ survivors of sexual violence in conflict.

Women as ‘conduits’ of policy

There remains an urgent need for donor governments and global institutions to avoid centring women peacebuilders as mere ‘conduits’ of policy. The language of ‘empowerment’ as economic empowerment serves to depoliticize women peacebuilders into economic actors. Canadian funding for women’s peace work in Colombia has also been interpreted as a means of advancing its economic interests in market liberalization and resource access.

Policy Recommendations

Key findings of this research highlight essential needs for women’s peacebuilding in Colombia. Building on these lessons will enable innovative solutions for WPS efforts.

Empowerment through rights-based approaches

Portraying women peacebuilders as vulnerable victims undermines the invaluable political role women have played throughout Colombia’s history. Re-conceptualizing women as active political agents with rights of inherent value is key to promoting their meaningful and impactful participation in peace and future sustainable development.

Increase direct funding to local and rural women’s civil society organizations (CSOs)

Only 0.2% of bilateral aid to conflict-affected states is directed to women’s CSOs globally. Increasing this proportion ensures more effective and equitable benefits flow to local initiatives and groups who are often sidelined by national-level, urban-based programming.

Address root conflict drivers through targeted support of justice and land rights

Colombia’s conflict was partly driven by issues related to limited and unequal access to land. Strengthening land rights and improving access to transitional justice for conflict-affected communities, particularly women and Indigenous peoples, is key to mitigating the root causes of conflict and preventing its recurrence for sustainable development.

Mitigate unequal power relations

Reorient national, local, and development assistance policy toward mitigating relations of power and domination. Strengthen initiatives aimed at deconstructing patriarchal relations and class-based discriminations to reduce horizontal and vertical inequalities. Promote sustainable peace through policy and programming that addresses inequality as a root cause of conflict, and equality as a solution to conflict.

Affirm commitments to international cooperation and accountability

As the global community is weakened by increased division and fragmentation, the vision for feminist peace grows dimmer. If the Canadian government seeks to establish itself as a leader of effective feminist policy, it must commit to upholding norms of international cooperation. Accountability must also extend to more equitable relations with Colombia, particularly with regard to exploitative trade and investment policies that undermine the WPS agenda.