Ban Ki-moon reports to the UN Security Council on Mission’s scope and action timeframe following the final peace agreement

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed satisfaction at the UN Mission in Colombia’s preparedness, including the deployment of observers, now totalling 80, which have enabled successful joint scoping visits to areas where the separation of forces and the laying down of arms will take place.

The UN Secretary-General highlighted the working relationship between Colombian officers and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia- People’s Army (FARC-EP) combatants during recent visits and the positive reaction of the local population, “which all go to show that preparations are on track, not only from a technical viewpoint but also from a political perspective,” according to a report delivered to the UN Security Council on 19 August, now available in official UN languages, including Spanish.

The personnel required for the Mission to fulfill its mandate is around 450 international observers and an appropriate civilian component, to be deployed in 40 locations, including the 23 Transitional Local Zones for Normalization (TLZN) and eight Transitional Local Points for Normalization (TLPN), where the separation of forces and the laying down of arms is to take place.

The Mission is also ready to fulfil its coordination functions within the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (MVM), the report says. Formed by the Government of Colombia, the FARC-EP, and coordinated by the UN Mission, the mechanism will monitor and verify the implementation of the ceasefire and cessation of hostilities. The UN Mission will assume responsibility for the verification of the laying down of arm, as part of its overall responsibility for international verification of the ceasefire agreement that the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP signed on 23 June 2016.

“I acknowledge that the implementation of the peace agreements is a major financial undertaking for the Colombian Government. Discussions are underway involving the Colombian Government, the Secretariat and Member States on how best to support the logistics of the Zones,” Mr. Ban added.

The rules of the ceasefire and cessation of hostilities to which the Colombia Government and the FARC-EP are committed not only prohibit acts of mutual aggression but also contain a commitment to refrain from any “act of violence or threat of violence that endanger the life and personal integrity of the civilian population, in particular gender-based violence,” according to the report.

Timeframe - The report outlines the UN Mission’s timeframe for key tasks to lay down arms. The verification the FARC- EP’s retrieval of collective weapons, grenades and munitions and their transportation to their camps is to be completed within 30 days of the entry into force of the final peace agreement. Moreover, the verification of the destruction by FARC-EP of unstable weapons in the areas where their units were deployed, is to be completed within 60 days of the entry into force of the final peace agreement, monitoring individual and collective weapons held by FARC-EP in their respective camps in the established Zones. UN Mission observers permanently based in those camps will carry out this task. 


Sixty to 150 days after the entry into force of the final peace agreement, the Mission is to receive individual and collective weapons, grenades and munitions from the FARC-EP, store them in secure facilities under permanent UN observation, and transport them out of the zones, following the destruction of ammunition and the decommissioning of weapons. 


At the end of the process, the Mission will certify the completion of the laying down of arms, and inform the Government, the Security Council and the public. 


“After so many years of conflict, it may be difficult for many Colombians to imagine a future in peace. Yet the opportunity is at hand today and I hope they will be able to seize it,” the UN Secretary-General stressed.

Download the full report in English and Spanish.