Colombia Holds Second Humanitarian Summit

On Friday, over 200 Colombian social leaders from the territories most affected by armed violence hold the Second Humanitarian Summit in Bogota. .

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It is a space for meeting and dialogue whose purpose is to find negotiated political solutions to the prevailing structural violence in this South American country.

"The participants will propose to the National Government and armed actors a set of urgent actions to achieve a ceasefire and peace," the Episcopal Conference of Colombia (CEC) said, recalling that the first summit also took place in the Colombian capital in July.

The current meeting will bring together leaders from the departments of Antioquia, Arauca, Buenaventura, Caribe, Catatumbo, Caqueta, Cauca, Choco, Cordoba, Guaviare, Magdalena Medio, Meta, Nariño, Putumayo, Sucumbios, and Piamonte.

The Catholic Church will be represented by its National Conciliation Commission, the National Secretariat for Social Pastoral Care, and Monsignor Hector Henao, who is the delegate for church-state relations.

The Bogota meeting is carried out by task groups that converge in a group known as "The Humanitarian Coordinator," which will foster similar dialogue processes at local level.

Also present at the Second Summit will be the Colombian former president Ernesto Samper, senators Ivan Cepeda and Ariel Avila, the Vivamos Humano corporation, the Bench for Peace, the Bogota's High Council for Peace, and international institutions such as the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.