Professional Affiliation

Independent Consultant and Member of Constitucionalismo Comparado research group of the National University of Colombia

Expert Bio

Natalia Ruiz Morato holds a PhD in Law from the National University of Colombia and earned her MA in International Studies from Korea University. She is an independent consultant in Law and Development for public and private institutions in Colombia, on issues related to international development, ethnic and indigenous rights, and social and environmental justice. She has published several academic papers and book chapters on these topics. She is also a member of the Constitucionalismo Comparado research group of Colombia’s National University. Her current work focuses on aspects of rural reform in the Colombian Post-conflict, in coordination with the initiative of the Colombian-German Capaz Institute. She has been Associate Professor at LaSalle University and lecturer at several universities in Colombia.

 

 

Wilson Center Project

Environmental Peacebuilding and the Goldmining Sector in Post-Conflict Colombia

Project Summary

During the armed conflict in Colombia, goldmining concentrated in areas of extreme poverty marked by socio-environmental conflict, high levels of crime and illegal activity, and featuring multiple actors in conflict. What is more, these areas are highly contaminated by mercury, affecting the food chain and generating incalculable losses of water resources that will affect future generations. However, in the Peace Agreement, the Colombian government’s approach to tackling the problem of goldmining has been limited to treating it as a criminal problem of illegal exploitation. Could the goldmining industry contribute to the environmental peacebuilding in post-conflict Colombia? The central argument of this research is to overcome the understanding and management the goldmining territories as war territory, and to recognize the necessity of implementing environmental peacebuilding, in which the gold as a natural resource can support and contribute to the consolidation of peace and peacebuilding objectives.

Major Publications

“Paz ambiental, conflictos territoriales y minería ilegal en la implementación del Acuerdo de Paz” Paz Territorial y Tierras. Una mirada crítica frente a los acuerdos de la Habana, edited by B. Marquardt, J. Martinez y M. Sanchez. Bogota:Ibañez, 2018 [ISBN 978-958-749-878-3]

 

Estudio de derecho comparado internacional del precedente jurisprudencial constitucional: propuesta metodológica para Colombia. Bogotá, Instituto de Estudios del Ministerio Público, 2018 [ISBN 978-958-734-236-9]

 

“Resistance and the Survival of the Indigenous Justice in Colombia.” Revista Científica General José María Córdova, Vol.14, No.17 (January-June 2016), pp.347-375 [ISSN 1900-6586]