The conference will provide a congenial environment in which authors participating in the collection of essays titled Colombia: Building Peace in a Time of War edited by Virginia M. Bouvier, Program Officer for the Jennings Randolph Program at USIP, may have the opportunity to discuss and compare different approaches to peace building in Colombia with each other and with a broader public interested in questions of human rights, conflict resolution, peace studies and global affairs. A series of public panels will alternate with closed author-only workshops to enable the possibility of discussing and potentially incorporating debate and feedback from the public with in-depth, case specific comparisons and analysis among the contributors.

It is our hope that this conference format will contribute to promote broad, interdisciplinary and transnational conversations that consider not only the country-specific peculiarities of conflict and peace building in the Colombian case, but comparisons between Colombia, Colombian peace building strategies and the variables and strategies developed in other areas where persistent conflict and the need for innovative alternatives to violence are a pressing concern.

Friday, November 18, Sage Hall

10:00am -12:00pm

Panel I: National Peace Initiatives [Open to the Public]

Colombia's Peace Processes 1982-2002: Conditions, Strategies and Outcomes
Carlo Nasi, Departamento de Ciencia Política, Universidad de los Andes

Evolution and Lessons Learned from the Colombian Peace Movement
Jorge Rojas, President, Consultancy on Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES), Bogota
Adam Isacson, Center for International Policy, Washington, D.C.

Peace Education in Colombia
Ana Maria Velasquez

Women's Initiatives for Peace
Catalina Rojas, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University
12:15-1:45pm Lunch and Authors Working Group
2:00-3:00pm

Photo Essay on Peace Building Initiatives [Open to the Public]

Jesus Abad Colorado, Photojournalist, will speak and project his photographs
3:30 -5:30pm

Panel II: International Peace Initiatives [Open to the Public]

Peace, Justice, Reparations, and the Relationship to Peace Processes in Colombia
Arturo Carrillo, Associate Professor of Clinical Law, George Washington University Law School

U.S. Policy and Peace in Colombia: Lost in a Tangle of Wars
James Jones, Latin American specialist and consultant; Adjunct faculty member with the Elliott School, George Washington University

Weathering the Storm: U.S. NGO Efforts to Support and Protect Peace in Colombia
Neil Jeffery, Executive Director, U.S. Office on Colombia, Washington, D.C.

Europe's Role in the Complicated Transformation from War to Peace in Colombia
Sabine Kurtenbach, Instituto de Estudios Iberoamericanos, University of Hamburg
5:30 - 7:30pm Peace Initiatives in Colombia Conference Reception

Saturday, November 19, Kaufman Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall
9:00 - 11:45am

Panel III: Local and Regional Peace Initiatives: [Open to the Public]

Local Zones of Peace: Lessons from the Colombian Experience
Christopher Mitchell, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University

Negotiating Peace and Visibility: Civil Society, Armed Conflict, and the War on Drugs in the Putumayo
Maria Clemencia Ramirez, Instituto Colombiano de Antropologia e Historia

The Power of the Basto'n: Indigenous Resistance and Peace Building in Colombia
Leslie Wirpsa -, Institute for International Studies, University of California, Berkeley

From the Periphery to the Center: The Role of Civil Society in Constructing a Durable Peace: The Experience of Regional Development and Peace Programs
Javier Moncayo, Coordinator, Red Nacional de Programas Regionales de Desarrollo Integral y Paz, Bogota

Business and Peace in Colombia: Responses, Challenges, And Achievements
Angelika Rettberg, Departamento de Ciencia Politica, Universidad de los Andes

Cambio de Armas: Negotiating a Language of Peace Amidst a Sea of Armed Actors in Northwestern Colombia
Mary Roldan, Department of History, Cornell University

La Comunidad Local como Refugio Creativo de Transformación Restaurativa (Local Community as Creative Refuge for Restorative Transformation) Ricardo Esquivia, Red Asvidas of Montes de Maria and Sincelejo, Colombia
12:00 - 2:00pm Authors Working Group
2:15 - 3:45pm

Panel IV: Toward an Integrated Approach to Peace [Open to the Public]

Crafting Dialogue and Skilling for Peace among The Armed Actors in Colombia
Jennifer Schirmer, University of Oslo

The Role of Internationals in Supporting Local Efforts to Reduce Conflict and Foster Integrated Development
Raul Rosende, Representative Resident Advisor, United Nations Development Program

Balancing Security and Peace in the Colombian Conflict
Lt. Colonel Levinson

Conclusions
Virginia Bouvier, Program Officer, Jennings Randolph Program, US Institute of Peace
4:00 - 5:00pm Authors Working Group