Position Papers by Country

Position paper for Colombia

Committee:	GA First
Topic:	Reducing space threats through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours
Paper text:
The Republic of Colombia strongly believes that the peaceful, sustainable and cooperative use of outer space lies at the heart of our national development and international responsibility. As a country that has recently ratified the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space (the Outer Space Treaty) on 15 April 2024, the Government of Colombia reaffirms its commitment to the rule of law in space and to the avoidance of any arms race or uncontrolled militarisation beyond Earth’s atmosphere. At the same time, Colombia emphasises that this commitment is exercised in full respect of our constitutional sovereignty over the segment of the geostationary orbit above our territory, as expressed in Articles 101 and 102 of our Constitution – a nuance we interpret as entirely consistent with international obligations. Through our accession to the Artemis Accords in May 2022 we have signalled our readiness to engage with major space-faring nations on peaceful exploration, data sharing and transparency of operations. In this way, Colombia positions itself as both a normative actor and an emerging participant in the global space enterprise. Colombia’s approach emphasises multilateralism, capacity building, and national regulation. We support the work of the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on Reducing Space Threats through Norms, Rules and Principles of Responsible Behaviour (OEWG) and joined the 28 August 2023 joint statement endorsing its process. In our domestic sphere, we are actively developing the legal and institutional framework for space activities (including registration of objects launched into outer space, national licensing and oversight) and foresee a national space policy aimed at enabling our scientific, educational and commercial objectives. We recognise that achieving the full potential of cooperation in space demands trust, transparency and adherence to norms across all states — and Colombia stands ready to work with our Latin American neighbours, regional organisations and global partners to create a stable, equitable, rule- based space environment.

Committee:	GA First
Topic:	The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects
Paper text:
The Republic of Colombia strongly believes that the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons poses a persistent and foundational threat to our national security, to the rule of law, to human rights and to the prospects for peace and development in our country. As one of the States most affected by decades of armed conflict, narcotics trafficking and criminality, Colombia underscores that the availability and diversion of such weapons undermines the capacity of the State to protect its citizens and to restore the monopoly of legitimate force. For this reason, the Government of Colombia fully supports the United Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons and the International Tracing Instrument. We have signed the Arms Trade Treaty and are pursuing its ratification in Congress, recognising that achieving outcomes requires translating norms into effective national legislation, oversight arrangements and enforcement mechanisms. Colombia’s strategy embraces both domestic reform and international cooperation. Nationwide we continue to improve our methods for record-keeping, stockpile management, and destruction of surplus weapons, while enhancing inter-agency coordination and border cooperation to reduce arms diversion to non-state actors. Regionally and globally, Colombia promotes the annual United Nations General Assembly resolution on “The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects” — which we co-sponsor — and invites donor and technical assistance to support capacity building in Latin America and the Caribbean. At the same time, we are conscious that major challenges remain: illegal trafficking, brokering and diversion persist, and we require sustained political will, resource mobilisation and multilateral partnership. Colombia thus remains committed to upholding an arms-control regime that supports peace, security and sustainable development for all.

Committee:	GA Second
Topic:	Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence
Paper text:
Colombia is a strong partner of the UN and was one of the first countries to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our economy is very open to globalization and depends heavily on international trade, especially commodities like coffee and oil. This reliance on a few exports makes our economy unstable when global prices change. We have worked hard to become a partner in development, not just a receiver of aid, and we now share our own experiences, like our peace process, with other developing nations. Colombia wants the UN to help make globalization and trade fairer for developing countries. We need a system that helps countries like ours diversify our economies so we are not just selling raw materials. The UN must keep the SDGs as the main focus to make sure growth helps everyone and is sustainable. We also want the UN to support more "South-South" cooperation, where developing countries can share solutions directly with each other. The goal is simple: globalization must work for all people and reduce poverty.

Committee:	GA Second
Topic:	Protection of global climate for present and future generations of humankind
Paper text:
The Republic of Colombia arrives at this committee not only as a committed signatory to the Paris Agreement but as a nation facing an existential threat. As one of the world's most diverse countries and a nation highly dependent on hydropower, we are really vulnerable to climate change. Rising temperatures threaten our Andean glaciers, increase flood risk for millions, and destabilize our agricultural sector (World Bank, 2023). Uniquely, Colombia's emissions profile is dominated not by heavy industry but by the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector, primarily driven by deforestation in the Amazon (IEA, 2023). Our commitment to climate action is therefore inseparable from our pursuit of "total peace" and sustainable development. In response, we have submitted one of the most ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in the region, pledging a 51% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 (WRI, 2021). Colombia believes the path to meeting the Paris Agreement's targets rests on two pillars: ambitious national action and robust international solidarity. First, we call on Member States to integrate climate action directly into their national development and peace-building strategies, as we have. Second, this ambition is impossible for developing nations to achieve alone. Colombia urges developed nations to fulfill and expand their climate finance commitments, moving beyond pledges to deliver tangible, accessible funding for adaptation, technology transfer, and results-based payments for protecting vital ecosystems like the Amazon. We support robust transparency mechanisms to ensure accountability for both emissions and financial pledges. Assisting developing countries is not charity. Really, it is the only pragmatic way to protect our shared global climate for all future generations.

Committee:	GA Third
Topic:	Universal realization of the right of peoples to self-determination
Paper text:
We, the Republic of Colombia, reaffirm our commitment to the universal realization of the right of peoples to self-determination, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the International Covenants on Human Rights. We recognize self-determination not only as the foundation of sovereign equality, but also as a core principle that protects the rights and autonomy of all peoples within the State. We emphasize that self-determination must be realized. We, in an effort to promote domestic peace and prosperity, utilize internal mechanisms that guarantee autonomy, participation, and cultural integrity, rather than systems which support secessionist movements that threaten peace, stability, and bloodshed. Our Constitution of 1991 redefined the nation as a “social State under the rule of law… decentralized, with autonomy of its territorial entities, democratic, participatory and pluralist.” This framework provides the legal basis for the recognition of Indigenous and Afro-Colombian territorial autonomy, consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). In 2025, we advanced this commitment by issuing a decree establishing a formal framework for Indigenous Territorial Entities (Entidades Territoriales Indígenas). These entities granted local peoples political, administrative, and fiscal autonomy to manage their resources, exercise customary justice, and give or withhold consent on development projects affecting their territories. We view internal self-determination as integral to sustainable peace. The 2016 Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace ended our conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and embedded territorial reform and ethnic participation. These mechanisms ensure that historically marginalized communities, especially Indigenous and rural populations can shape their own development goals and agendas.

Committee:	GA Third
Topic:	Improvement of the situation of women and girls in rural areas
Paper text:
We, the Republic of Colombia, affirm that empowering women and girls in rural areas is essential for achieving sustainable peace, stability, and economic development. We recognize that rural women have historically faced structural barriers to land ownership, credit, education, and political participation; issues only magnified by conflict and territorial inequality. Under the 2016 Final Peace Agreement, we adopted a gender-informed approach to rural reform, making rural women a priority in the distribution of land and credit. The Land Fund established under the agreement provides land titles to small-scale farmers, with special attention to women who are considered heads of households. Our complementary programs in rural cooperatives, vocational training, and credit aim to secure women’s economic autonomy and equality. Despite these advances, as the A/HRC/55/23 General Assembly report highlights, only about 26 percent of rural women in Colombia own the land they work, and many continue to face limited access to justice and protection from gender-based violence. Rural women leaders, particularly in conflict-affected territories, face heightened risks from non-state armed actors. Discontent with the current state of women’s rights globally, we urge the international community to view the empowerment of rural women as a cross-cutting development and peace priority. Programs targeting education, economic stability, and gender-based violence prevention must be designed with local women’s participation and implemented to further the situation of rural women and girls globally.

Committee:	GA Plenary
Topic:	Our ocean, our future, our responsibility
Paper text:
As consumer culture expands, waste is continuously added into our landfills and oceans world wide. The Great Pacific Garbage patch is currently estimated to be 1.6 million square kilometers, four times the size of our nation. As Colombia’s population grows and urbanizes, more clean water is required for our citizens. On our pacific coast in the village of Cuerval, the mangrove swamps provide habitats for 128 bird species, a source of food for our citizens, shelters, and a cradle of marine life. Over the last 40 years, this vulnerable ecosystem has weakened. 14% of the Cuerval mangroves have been lost, while the coasts are being wrecked by deforestation, illegal logging, gold mining, pollution and climate-driven erosion. Unsustainable practices heighten the impact from these actions, along with petroleum poured into the mud to extract clams, which poisons the ecosystem and encroaches on protected areas of Colombia and coconut plantations. To solve these problems, Cuerval joined with the UN’s Climate Technology and Network and the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Cauca to launch Cuerval Sostenible to restore local ecosystems and strengthen our communities to build resilience and foster peace within the region increasingly defined by climate stress. Together, the Cuerval Sostenible and the people of Cuerval have worked together to restore our mangrove swamps. Colombia seeks to continue upon the work of United Nations General Assembly resolution A/Res/79/204 in cleaning up the Caribbean Sea, developing programs to focus on cleaning our oceans.

Committee:	GA Plenary
Topic:	Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations
Paper text:
plenary committee of the general assembly: Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations Colombia recognizes the vital role of the United Nations in ensuring effective humanitarian assistance during emergencies. As a country that has endured natural disasters, internal displacement, and large-scale migration, Colombia understands the challenges of coordinating relief efforts across diverse actors and regions. We firmly believe that strengthening coordination among UN agencies, Member States, and local authorities is essential to saving lives and promoting lasting recovery. Colombia reaffirms its commitment to the guiding principles of General Assembly Resolution 46/182: humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence as the foundation for all humanitarian efforts. We stress the importance of maintaining respect for national sovereignty while fostering collaboration between governments, the United Nations, and humanitarian organizations. Coordination must be field-oriented, transparent, and inclusive, engaging affected communities to ensure that assistance reaches those most in need with efficiency and dignity. Colombia emphasizes the connection between humanitarian relief, development, and peacebuilding. Long-term recovery cannot be achieved without addressing root causes of vulnerability and strengthening national capacity for disaster risk reduction and preparedness. The integration of climate resilience and local capacity building into humanitarian coordination frameworks is therefore indispensable. Columbia stands ready to work with all member states to advance a humanitarian system that is more adaptive, resilient, and responsive to the everchanging problems in the world.

Committee:	IAEA
Topic:	Nuclear security
Paper text:
Historically Colombia has ratified a number of treaties regarding nuclear security like the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear- Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), ratified in 1986 and 2008 respectively. It also is a participant in the Treaty of Tlatelolco (The Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean). Notably it has signed but not ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) though it plans to in the coming year. Columbia believes in the peaceful use of nuclear technologies. Any debate on nuclear security starts and ends with ending the use of nuclear technologies for weaponry. It is in the best interest of all of the citizens of Colombia that the world is rid of such dangerous technology. Furthermore this does not mean that Colombia is against the use of nuclear technologies in fields like healthcare, energy, agriculture, and general industry. As a member of the board of governors for the IAEA, it has spent many resources in the advancement of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. The most promising of these is the implementation of 1.8 GW of Small Modular Reactors (SMR) by 2052. These reactors provide a much safer alternative to the traditional reactors that the average person knows about. The biggest risks of nuclear energy is the potential for meltdowns and the possession of dangerous material that can be seized and used for weapons. SMR is a very promising solution to both of those problems. Although meltdown for a traditional reactor is highly improbable in the modern day, SMR still provides benefits. They are generally smaller than the traditional reactors and use different materials or a less enriched form and smaller amount of Uranium-238 than most traditional reactors.

Committee:	IAEA
Topic:	Strengthening the Agency's activities related to nuclear science, technology and applications
Paper text:
Columbia has historically been in favor of advancing the agency’s activities in terms of nuclear science and technology. As a part of the board of governors for the IAEA, Columbia has stayed committed advocating and collaborating with other member nations of the IAEA. Key to these efforts was in 2019 at the IAEA’s symposium on Nuclear Applications hosted in Bogotá. This symposium was a moment to “take stock of Colombia’s recent and historic achievements in the application of nuclear technologies, and to explore and remedy the obstacles which prevent greater engagement with those technologies.” This event, organized with the Ministry of Mines and Energy, was an opportunity to discuss advancement in technologies relating to health, energy, and sustainable environmental practices. The actions explored in this symposium for the sustainability efforts include efforts to “sustainably manage water resources, to measure and monitor ocean acidification, to ensure food safety and food exports, and to strengthen capacities in nuclear medicine.” Technologies that have come out of Colombia’s strengthening efforts include advancements in health and wellness including radiotherapy, MRI and sedimentation measurements, specifically improving the efficacy of radiotherapy and the access to both technologies. Colombia has also been very involved in the advancement of disposal methods for radioactive waste. Prime of all of the efforts for Colombia has been its promises for nuclear energy as it plans to to add 1.8 GW of in mostly SMR reactors. This is a very promising venture as it uses a historically safer alternative to the traditional Uranium-238 reactor in the form of thorium molten salt reactors or reactors that use a lower amount of Uranium-238 in the fuel for the reactors.

Committee:	CND
Topic:	Promoting alternative development as a development-oriented drug control strategy that is sustainable and inclusive
Paper text:
The previous treaties in international relations are the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961; amended in 1972), the Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971), and the UN Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988). They serve to maintain a classification system of controlled substances, including psychoactive drugs and plants, and chemical precursors, to ensure the regulated supply of those substances determined to be useful for medical and scientific purposes, and to otherwise prevent production, distribution and use, with some limited exceptions and exemptions. Columbia is in a deal with the US currently for narcotics prevention and the prevention of Coca crops. The Colombian government is committed to stopping the narcotics issue facing our nations. However we feel it is up to the country to decide what is best. We would prefer if the United Nations took a hands off approach in regulating narcotics as each nation should be able to handle their restrictions under their own sovereign borders. We as Columbia will commit to our continued goal of working towards keeping narcotics off our streets.

Committee:	CND
Topic:	Promoting comprehensive and scientific evidence-based early prevention
Paper text:
The history of narcotics in Colombia is extensive. Colombia first became a primary exporter of cocaine in the 1970s and 1980s. International demand for the drug was at an all-time high—the emergence of the Medellín and Cali Cartel was the only way in which it was to be met. Once organized crime began to operate in the drug market, chaos began. Colombia was reported to suffer from a high murder rate: 63 murders per 100,000 citizens per year. Colombia has always been active in fighting against its narcotics issue. For example, it was the country that called into action the first-ever UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs in 1990. When the conference did not yield the desired results for Colombia, the country pushed for the creation of a subcommittee to address the issue. This led to the creation of the United Nations Drug Control Programme in 1997. Later in the 2000s, Colombia collaborated with the US to create Plan Colombia. Plan Colombia was a joint initiative between the US and Colombian governments focused on combating drug smuggling and implementing institutional reform. A grand total of $122.2 million was provided by the USA to support the project. A focus was placed on reformative measures rather than punitive ones—the idea of Plan Colombia was to reform the entire structure of the country, rather than punish and push aside those involved in drug trafficking. There were still militaristic measures involved; armed support was provided by the US, guerrilla groups were targeted, and cocaine farms were raided. Scientific measures involved in Plan Colombia include Integrated Illicit Crop Monitoring (IICM). IICM uses aerial photographs and satellite data to remotely track coca planting patterns and trends. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime partnered with the Colombian government to manage this technology. With measures like the IICM and strong implementation, Plan Colombia was, in the end, a statistical success. According to a report from the University of the Andes, “From 2000 to 2013, Colombia succeeded in reducing coca cultivation from 160,000 hectares to 48,000 hectares.” This massive cut in production went hand-in-hand with an improvement in Colombian quality of life. Colombia has, in short, always been aware of its issues with managing narcotics. From the creation of the UNDCP to its partnership with the UNODC, it has never once been passive in attacking the issue where it stands.

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