Thanks to advocacy work by RRI Collaborator the Federation of Peasant Women of Cundinamarca (FEDEMUCC), the Colombian government has agreed to establish a comprehensive public policy for the rights of rural women. As part of the country’s National Development Plan (NDP), which acts as a guide for national policies from now until 2018, the new provisions 107, 129, and 232 will clearly define not only the rights for rural women, but also the mechanisms to advance and implement these rights.

This new development will propel the implementation of Law 731, a 2002 law that looks to promote equity between rural men and women through initiatives to title women’s land, provide microfinancing and other funds, and encourage women’s representation in political processes. However, the regulation of this law currently stands at less than 50 percent. The National Development Plan now addresses this lag by committing to fully comply with Law 731.

The NDP also includes a provision to create an Office of Rural Woman within six months. This office will be responsible for conducting an assessment of the National Policy on Gender  Equality for Women, and the Public Policy for Risk Prevention, Protection, and Guarantee of the Rights of Women Victims of Armed Conflict.

Taken together, these new policies and commitments will help to advance the recognition of the rights of Colombia’s rural women in peasant, indigenous, native islander, and Afro-Colombian communities.

During the remainder of this year, FEDEMUCC aims to secure compliance for the various commitments under the NDP and Law 731. A focus of these advocacy efforts will be the second International Women’s Forum, to be held in August in Bogota. This is a continuation of the 2014 International Women’s Forum, which was held in Lima, Peru. Read about the first Forum here.

Read more here (in Spanish).