UNITED NATIONS, June 26 (Xinhua) -- A United Nations Security Council mission will travel to Colombia next month to show support for the peace process in the country, diplomats said Wednesday.
"We are pleased to announce that Peru and the United Kingdom will be co-leading a mission of the Security Council to Colombia next month during the Peruvian presidency of the Security Council," Peru's UN ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra told reporters.
The terms of reference of the visit have been approved and the detailed agenda is being discussed with the Colombian government and the UN mission in the country, he said at a press encounter together with Jonathan Allen, Britain's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.
Allen said the Colombia visit will be from July 11 to 14, including a field trip to a location yet to be announced.
Meza-Cuadra said the main objectives of the visit are to express the Security Council's commitment to the peace process in Colombia, to observe and support the UN mission in the country, and also to better understand the priorities and concerns of the parties of the peace agreement and other stakeholders.
Allen, the British ambassador, said the council will meet with a wide range of stakeholders, including the government, the UN mission, political parties, the former rebel group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and civil society representatives.
The Colombian government and FARC struck a peace deal in August 2016 after four years of negotiations in Havana, Cuba, ending a five-decades-long conflict in the country. The UN Verification Mission in Colombia, mandated by the Security Council, is tasked to verify the reintegration of former FARC fighters.
