Colombia Enabling Environment Snapshot

Period covered by the report: October 2025-December 2025 (2nd EES updated the 1st directly.) 

The social and political landscape in Colombia remains marked by widespread violence that shows no signs of abating. The killing of social leaders continue s at critical levels and, according to the most recent figures, 2025 has seen a rising trend compared to previous years, consolidating a progressive deterioration in the safeguards for the defence of rights across the country. This situation is directly linked to disputes between illegal armed groups in various regions of the country, which directly affects communities – particularly in rural areas and working-class neighbourhoods in cities – as well as journalists, environmental defenders and peace signatories. Against this backdrop, the state’s capacity to prevent, protect and respond remains limited: measures continue to be reactive, piecemeal and poorly coordinated, failing to achieve the level of territorial intervention demanded by current risk dynamics; furthermore, the outcome of the ‘total peace’ policy implemented by the government is negative, as it has fragmented efforts and encouraged the proliferation of criminal actors. 

At the same time, institutional legitimacy is at a particularly fragile juncture. Corruption scandals and poor performance in areas such as transparency and security have eroded public trust. The government is entering the final phase of its term, with partial responses to structural challenges, which weakens its capacity for political leadership at a critical moment. 

This scenario sets the stage for the 2026 presidential election. The country enters the electoral cycle with growing polarisation, with rhetoric that strains public participation, and with governmental, political, social and economic institutions locked in a power struggle between the continuation of an alternative political project (left-wing or progressive) and the return of traditional political forces. Colombia begins 2026 facing a dual challenge: managing a polarised democracy and protecting those who sustain civic action under adverse conditions, at a decisive moment for the country’s institutional trajectory.

Amid this demanding landscape of the country’s democratic transition, the national government, in its final months in power, is focused on attempting to fulfil electoral promises and agreements set out in the National Development Plan. Time is running out, and the requirements of administrative management during election periods (Guarantees Act) mean that the process of ensuring full rights remains unfulfilled for a significant proportion of the population.