How can peace succeed despite persistent inequality, ongoing violence, and social tensions? This question was at the heart of the Young Researchers Conference of the German-Colombian Peace Institute (CAPAZ), which took place from 30–31 October 2025 at the Research Center “Normative Orders” of Goethe University Frankfurt. Entitled “La protección y el fortalecimiento de la construcción de paz en tiempos difíciles” (Protecting and Strengthening Peacebuilding in Difficult Times), the conference brought together young researchers from Europe and Colombia. The conference was organized in cooperation with TraCe, PRIF, Goethe University Frankfurt, Justus Liebig University Giessen, and Philipps University Marburg.
The conference provided doctoral students with a platform to present and discuss their research on ongoing peacebuilding processes in Colombia. Five panels focused on security, human rights, transitional justice, gender and intersectionality, memory, and territorial peace. Juliana González Villamizar moderated a roundtable discussion that broadened the debate to include Colombia’s role in the world by combining scientific analyses and perspectives from politics and development cooperation.
Several TraCe researchers also contributed to the CAPAZ Young Researchers Conference: Stefan Peters chaired the opening panel on transitional justice. This discussion addressed issues of reconciliation and legal processing with a focus on Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP). Moderated by Jonas Wolff, the panel “Seguridad y Derechos Humanos” examined current security threats and practices with a view to the reintegration of former guerrilla members, the strategies of social leaders, the export of Colombian security expertise, and the deployment of Colombian mercenaries abroad. Anika Oettler chaired the panel on gender and intersectionality. This panel highlighted migrant perspectives on peace, the importance of intersectionality in Colombian transitional justice, and the resistance of Afro-Colombian women in the north of the country. Rafael Quishpe Contreras discussed the campaign strategies of former combatants, using FARC commander Pastor Alape as an example, as part of the panel on “Paz territorial.”
The conference offered participants a variety of opportunities to exchange ideas, network, and engage in in-depth discussions on the conference topics during coffee breaks and dinner.