SDGs IN COLOMBIA: Lights and Shadows between a Peace Agreement and a Pandemic

The state of the art of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Colombia is discussed in this chapter. A high-level commission was appointed in 2015 and a set of 156 indicators was chosen for measuring Colombia’s progress toward the 2030 Agenda. One of them (SDG 16) was enlarged from monitoring the rule of law to include crimes against humanity and against victims of the conflict. This was related to the signature of a peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC in 2016. The 2020 Progress Report showed a 54.8% progress, but then came the COVID-19 pandemic. Poverty rate which had been falling since 2008 climbed to 42.5% in 2020. The Gini coefficient topped to 0.54 in 2020. The partial or total closure of schools, a total of 220 days, increased school repetition and broadened the gap between public and private schools. The laying down of arms by ex-combatants led other illegal armed groups, such as former FARC fighters who created dissident groups and delinquent gang organizations, to dispute the illegal economies. Little progress in the most disadvantaged regions was observed. Recovering from the pandemic effects is taking place, with some health and education indicators being more retractable.