Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness will be in Colombia this coming week to support the country’s peace process.
The Sinn Fein representative will spend three days in the South American country from Monday at the request of the Colombian President Santos.
During his visit, Mr McGuinness will support the efforts of all those involved in the ongoing peace process in Colombia and discuss “valuable experiences” from the Irish Peace Process.
He will meet with a wide range of groups and individuals, who represent the many views on the way forward in the Colombian peace process.
These will include political leaders from all sides, trade union leaders and wider civic society.
Speaking ahead of the trip, Mr McGuinness said: “I have shared our experience of the Irish Peace Process, and the challenges it continues to present, with people across various conflict zones, in the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Iraq,Turkey, the Basque Country and Colombia.
“I hope through talking to all participants of this particular conflict we can impress upon them, how central inclusive dialogue is to the process.”
He concluded: “While one peace process cannot be simply transplanted to another situation there are undoubtedly valuable lessons, which can be learned from the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements that we have reached.”
