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Colombia’s 2016 Final Agreement between the government and the FARC-EP created a broad plan for ending that conflict and building peace, not a guarantee that all armed violence would stop at once. Implementation has brought institutional change and former combatants into reintegration, but delivery has been uneven, and other armed groups, contested territory, and unresolved structural problems continue to put civilians at risk.
So, why is there still violence in Colombia after the peace deal? The agreement addressed the FARC-EP conflict and set out a long-term framework; it did not automatically remove other armed actors, illicit economies, or limited state presence in rural areas. The UN continues to call for full implementation.
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What did Colombia’s 2016 peace agreement set out to do?
The Final Agreement was a comprehensive accord between Colombia’s government and the FARC-EP, rather than a single ceasefire. Its six points link ending the conflict to rural reform, political participation, solutions for illicit crops, victims’ rights, and implementation and verification. Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosts the official agreement and explanatory materials.
That breadth matters: the accord aimed not only to end the FARC-EP’s armed campaign, but also to address conditions associated with conflict and establish mechanisms for justice, reintegration, and implementation. Those commitments require sustained work by Colombian institutions; the UN Verification Mission monitors and verifies aspects of the process, rather than replacing those institutions.
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What has happened since the agreement?
Implementation has included demobilization, continuing reintegration, political and transitional-justice mechanisms, and land and rural-development commitments. In January 2026, the UN reported that more than 11,000 former combatants remained engaged in reintegration. The UN has also noted progress in administrative and regulatory frameworks and land distribution, while stressing that the agreement should be implemented in its entirety.
Land delivery remains a major gap. According to Colombia’s Agriculture Ministry, as relayed by the UN Verification Mission, by February 2025 only 6% of the accord’s three-million-hectare land-adjudication target had been achieved. This figure concerns adjudication against that specific target; it is not a measure of all land restitution, formalization, or rural-reform activity.
| Area | What the research shows | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Reintegration | More than 11,000 former combatants remained engaged in reintegration in UN reporting in early 2026. | Reintegration is ongoing, not a completed step. |
| Land adjudication | By February 2025, 6% of the three-million-hectare target had been awarded, according to the Agriculture Ministry as reported by the UN Verification Mission. | Delivery against this particular target has been slow. |
| Civilian security | The UN human-rights annual report, as summarized by the Associated Press, recorded approximately 94,000 people displaced by violence in 2025. | The peace agreement did not end violence by other armed actors or resolve insecurity in every region. |
Why does violence continue in Colombia?
After the FARC-EP agreement, other armed groups and dissident factions remained or expanded in contested rural areas, including places where the state has limited presence and illegal economies persist. Groups competing for territory can expose civilians to displacement, restrictions on movement, attacks, and forced recruitment. These factors help explain continued violence, but they are not the only causes.
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The UN human-rights annual report for 2025, reported by the Associated Press in 2026, recorded approximately 94,000 people displaced by violence, an 85% rise from 2024. The same report said murders of human-rights defenders increased 9%, armed-group lockdowns affecting rural communities increased 12%, and the UN confirmed 150 forced-recruitment cases. It warned the recruitment figure was likely an undercount because families feared retaliation. These figures describe a worsening recent period, not a uniform trend in every region or measure.
Has the FARC peace deal worked?
There is no simple yes-or-no verdict. The accord produced major political and institutional changes, including continuing reintegration and transitional-justice processes. At the same time, uneven implementation—particularly in rural commitments—and violence beyond the original FARC-EP conflict mean that the promise of stable peace remains unfinished.
A useful way to assess progress is to distinguish commitments from delivery, national policy from local conditions, demobilization from civilian security, and formal justice from victims’ access to truth and reparation. The UN Secretary-General, in a January 2026 statement, called the accord “a comprehensive accord that should be implemented in its entirety if its promise of peace, justice and reconciliation is to be fully realized.”
What is the Special Jurisdiction for Peace?
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) is a central transitional-justice institution established under the accord. It seeks accountability for serious crimes related to the conflict through proceedings that include acknowledgement and restorative measures; ordinary prison sentences may apply where conditions for alternative sanctions are not met. It is distinct from the UN Verification Mission and from agencies responsible for reintegration.
The JEP began operating in 2018. The Associated Press reported that it had handled cases involving more than 14,000 suspects, and that its investigative mandate runs to 2028, followed by a five-year trial period. AP also described uncertainty about its political outlook after a president-elect called for dismantling it; that is a time-sensitive report of the 2026 political context.
What remains to be done for victims?
Victims’ rights, truth, and reparation are central to the accord, but access to support remains a concern. A July 2026 El País account of a committee monitoring the Truth Commission’s recommendations reported that Colombia’s Victims’ Registry contained 10.2 million people. That is a registry figure—not a count of deaths—and includes people affected by Colombia’s wider conflict, not only the FARC-EP conflict.
The same El País report described shortfalls in resources, implementation scale, updated victim policy, and support for victims of sexual violence and other groups. It reported that 3% of 43,276 registered women victims of sexual violence had received the described emotional-support strategy, and that 1,800 social leaders had been killed since 2016. These figures are attributed to the follow-up committee as reported by El País.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where can readers find the agreement and further reading?
Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides the full Final Agreement and explanatory resources, including material on its six points. For a book-length historical resource, Bogotá’s public-library catalogue records Biblioteca del proceso de paz con las FARC-EP, a Spanish-language, ten-volume illustrated collection published in Bogotá in 2018 by the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace. This is a library-catalogued reference; current retail availability is not established.
FAQ
Did the 2016 agreement end Colombia’s civil war?
It ended the FARC-EP’s armed campaign through a comprehensive agreement, but it did not end all armed conflict in Colombia. Other groups and dissident factions continued to operate, particularly in contested rural areas.
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Why is there still violence in Colombia after the peace deal?
Other armed actors compete for territory, while illegal economies and limited state presence remain factors in some regions. The agreement’s implementation is also incomplete, especially on long-term rural commitments.
How many former FARC combatants are still in reintegration?
The UN reported in early 2026 that more than 11,000 former combatants remained engaged in reintegration.
What is the JEP’s role?
The JEP is a transitional-justice court that pursues accountability for serious conflict crimes through proceedings that can include acknowledgement and restorative measures, as well as ordinary prison sentences when alternative-sanction conditions are not met.
