The Jorge Tadeo Lozano University Peace building Observatory's primary objective is to work upon knowledge in order to contribute to Colombia’s peacebuilding process, and therefore it can be considered not only as an institution of Peace Studies, but more as a direct exercise of peacebuilding itself. The knowledge just mentioned refers mainly to Peace Studies Theory, in order to comprehend the different phenomena within Colombia’s peacebuilding processes and embrace a transformative position, rather than just a comprehensive one. Consequently, the observatory has proposed nine lines of investigation, which are: Reconciliation; Political Economy; Transitional Justice; International Aid; Media; Civil Society; Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration; and finally, Art and Peace.

Having its objective in mind, the observatory's work can be divided in two parts. A first part, it's academic production towards organizations –E.g.: FOS–Colombia, the Office of the High Commissioner of Peace, or the European Union–, in which the Observatory handles research projects in order to propose strategies, public policy, and overall knowledge in accordance to peacebuilding. The second part could be its diffusive sphere, in which the observatory shares, through social media and its webpage, news, local peace proposals, policy, and a periodic bulletin, which follows Colombia’s peacebuilding processes. The Observatory has been functioning since 2009, ascribed to the International Relations Department, and since 2014, under direction of Professor Miguel Barreto Henriques, who has assembled a team of 10 different investigators and 3 investigation assistants.

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