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Colombia

Fighting among left-wing guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries, drug traffickers and the army has helped to create the largest population of internally displaced people outside Sudan — at least 4 million, and growing.

Photo: Miguel Samper for Mercy Corps

Colombia's displacement crisis is large and growing: 270,675 people became newly displaced in the first six months of 2008, an increase of 41 percent over the same period last year, according to the leading national displacement-monitoring group. Colombia's is the longest-running civil conflict in the Americas. And a UN report says that more than half of los desplazados are children under the age of 15. Mercy Corps is helping rural families who have been forced by violence into safer but impoverished urban neighborhoods. One project teaches displaced women to make handicrafts, then finds purchases for export — an economic leg up on a new life.

Edinburgh Hotel Helps Deliver Life Support to Colombia’s Poor ›

Topics: Climate Change, Economic Development, Environment

Top Edinburgh hotel Ten Hill Place, which is owned by the city’s Royal College of Surgeons, has partnered with Mercy Corps to launch a new initiative aimed at powering essential healthcare services fo

Blog Post:  Video: Kids enjoy peace for one day in Santander ›

Topics: Youth, Sports, Children

Vivo Jugando is a new Mercy Corps sports-for-change strategy that uses football and yoga to give kids tools to deal with critical issues in their lives.

Shipping Clothing to Colombia's Landmine Victims ›

Topics: Conflict & War, Disability

Mercy Corps is helping landmine survivors in Colombia rehabilitate and reintegrate into their communities. As part of our effort, we recently sent donated shoes and sweaters to 240 survivors in Nariño.

Blog Post:  Tools for life ›

Topics: Youth, Urban, Sports, Marginalized Groups, Displacement, Conflict & War, Children

I teach weekly yoga classes to fifth graders at a school in Bogota's Ciudad Bolivar, where many youth I teach have been forcibly displaced by Colombia's ongoing conflict.

Blog Post:  Building children's confidence through sport ›

Topics: Youth, Urban, Sports, Children

Mercy Corps Colombia manages an innovative programme which aims to both eliminate and mitigate the effects of some of the worst forms of child labour through sports activities.

Colombia: Micro-Hydroelectric Energy ›

A small hydroelectric project will enhance educational opportunities, improve food security, ensure better health and help provide more economic opportunities to indigenous families in rural Colombia.

Gloria and Don Guillermo: A Way Forward ›

Topics: Economic Development

Gloria's family fled for the relative safety of Bogota — and a chance to reestablish their lives.

Ciro: Finishing Time ›

Topics: Economic Development

A diploma never meant much to rural ranchers like Ciro. But it's critical to his future in the city.

Crossing the Bridge ›

Topics: Economic Development

Counselling and trainings are helping displaced families in a marginalised Cartagena neighborhood move forward.

Photo Essay:  Starting Over ›

Topics: Displacement

Uprooted from their lands, displaced families are trying to reestablish their lives in Colombia's cities.

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Colombia Facts

  • Population: 45 million
  • Size: 26th largest country
  • Human Development Index rank: 80 (of 179)
  • Mercy Corps began work in 2006
  • Primary work: Assisting displaced persons, stopping child labour, land mine awareness
  • No. of IDPs: 4 million (2nd to Sudan)
  • Rural poverty rate (est): 80 percent

Program Details

Mercy Corps helps local organizations enable displaced families to establish themselves, achieve stable livelihoods and lives with dignity outside the armed conflict.

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