Colombia
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Photo: Miguel Samper for Mercy Corps
Our strategy
Help displaced families, landmine victims, former child soldiers and other victims of Colombia’s armed conflict get the assistance and skills they need to rebuild their lives.
The context
Fighting among left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries, drug traffickers and the army has created the largest population of internally displaced people outside Sudan — at least four million and growing.
Our work
- Children & Youth: Helping newly demobilized child soldiers reintegrate into society and preventing at-risk children from being recruited into armed groups
- Emergency response: Providing families displaced by conflict and flooding with emergency assistance and income-generation skills
- Conflict & Governance: Helping communities peacefully resolve existing land conflicts and formalize land ownership
All stories about Colombia
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Colombia: Land-conflict resolution network wins prestigious prize February 15, 2011
Our efforts at peacefully resolving violent land conflicts in Guatemala and Colombia have won a prestigio£30,000 prize from the Omidyar Network and Ashoka's Changemakers.
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Colombia: One emergency after another in Colombia December 9, 2010
In November, the Mayor's Office of Barranquilla requested Mercy Corps' support with a humanitarian response to the neighborhood of El Bosque that was affected by a landslide that brought down more than 300 households.
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Colombia: Rising from the rubble in Barranquilla November 20, 2010
When I first visited the neighborhood of El Bosque in Barranquilla, the landslide had affected nearly 350 families, with the partial or complete collapse of a large portion of the community. That was 10 days ago.
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Colombia: Landslide — 8,635 families in Barranquilla affected November 10, 2010
During a routine visit to one of our Disaster Prevention Pilot Projects in the city of Barranquilla, Colombia and a fast conversation with German Manota — the right-hand man of Barranquilla's Mayor — I was quickly introduced to the devastation that is currently occurring here.
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Colombia: Sliding homes November 9, 2010
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Colombia: VIDEO: What "community-led" looks like November 1, 2010
Every year thousands of families in Colombia are displaced from their homes and communities due to violence. They form resettlement camps where they can, often in undesirable locations due to lack of options.
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Colombia: Sowing Seeds of Hope October 27, 2010
During our six days in Colombia we saw extreme poverty and conflict side-by-side with hope, courage and empowerment. But most of all, we saw the seeds of lasting change taking hold.
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Colombia: What does empowerment look like? September 20, 2010
What does empowerment look like? It’s difficult to accurately depict such an intangible subject. In a small building located in the heart of Pasto, Colombia, I found a tangible example. In fact, there was a whole group of them. They wore maroon sweatshirts and name badges...
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Colombia: Working on a Sunday — AND it's my Birthday? Entirely worth it! September 16, 2010
August 22 is my birthday and, in 2010, it landed on a Sunday. A typical birthday celebration back home in Chile would be a relaxed barbecue, a few beers and that's it. However, this year was different.
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Colombia: Planting trees in Soacha September 14, 2010
Soacha is poor but full of pride. We're helping residents beautify their community by planting trees and caring for them. It's one step toward turning a barren field into an active park for children and their parents.