The Reverend Dr. Richard L. Pearson Lecture

Guest speaker: Sergio Jaramillo Caro, Colombian High Commissioner for Peace

This lecture series provides an opportunity to hear directly from leaders in international policy who have worked in peace and conflict.

Sergio Jaramillo Caro, Colombian High Commissioner for Peace, negotiated on behalf of the Republic of Colombia with the country's largest guerilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Jaramillo will share his experience negotiating a peace accord with the FARC that ended one of the world's longest-running conflicts, as well as what lies ahead for the region.

Boxed lunches will be served after the program.

Please RSVP by Thursday, April 20. 

Can't join us in person? The event will be livestreamed.

Learn more about FARC and the Colombian peace accords from Harris Professor James Robinson here.

About the Speaker 

Sergio Jaramillo Caro served as the chief negotiator for the Santos Administration in its negotiations with the country's largest guerilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In 2016, the Colombian Congress approved a peace accord with the FARC, ending one of the world’s longest running conflicts.

Prior to serving in this role, Jaramillo served as Vice Minister of Defense for Policies and International Affairs, where he sought to establish a state presence in violent territories throughout Colombia.

Jaramillo has served in a wide array of government positions throughout his career, including as advisor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in charge of the Diplomacy for Peace Program and political advisor at the Embassy of Colombia in France. In addition to his service in government, he was director of Ideas for the Peace Foundation and served on the faculty at Los Andes University.

Jaramillo studied philosophy at the University of Toronto, and philology at Oxford University. He holds an MPhil in philosophy from the University of Cambridge and was a doctoral candidate in Greek at the University of Heidelberg.

The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts is the first institute of its kind dedicated solely to the study and resolution of global conflicts.  The Pearson Institute fills a critical gap in identifying new strategies rooted in innovative, data-driven research approaches that transform how we understand and reduce global conflicts.