Colombia: Ban welcomes agreement between government and FARC

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the announcement that the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) have reached an agreement on rural development.

“This is a significant achievement and an important step forward,” Mr. Ban's spokesperson said in a statement.

“[Mr. Ban] wishes both delegations further success in their efforts to reach agreement on the remaining issues and to put an end to Colombia's long conflict.”

According to media reports, the agreement, reached after months of peace talks in Havana, Cuba, calls for the economic and social development of rural areas and providing land to poor farmers.

The Government estimates that 600,000 people have died since the conflict began between the country's authorities and the FARC-EP in the 1960s, and some three million more have been internally displaced by the fighting.