The violence in Colombia continues in a crisis that tends to be generalised throughout the country. The crisis has worsened under the current government’s policy of "democratic security", which focuses on strengthening of the military in an attempt to end internal fighting.

As a consequence of the above, an intensification of military action by the illegal armed groups has been observed. This is particularly noticeable in the cities, where the civil population is increasingly affected by urban violence and caught in the crossfire. They are also subject to threats and displacement. The armed conflict is continually forcibly involving the civil population to such an extent that analysts point out that this is not a war between the armed actors, but rather against the non-combatant civil population. The military confrontation increasingly uses the civil population as "human shields" resulting in a considerable increase in the number of civilian victims.

Under these circumstances civilians find themselves repeatedly displaced from one area to another in an attempt to save their lives, invariably finding themselves in adverse and undignified conditions. The current government policy is to promote the return of 30,000 internally displaced peasants families. However, those who do not agree to return will cease to receive assistance from the Social Solidarity Network. This has been seriously questioned by national and international NGOs as they are concerned that the return of these peasants will not be carried out taking into consideration the minimum conditions of dignity and security defined by international humanitarian law.

ACT members in Colombia Diakonie Emergency Aid (DEA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church - IELCO/Lutheran World Federation-DWS and ACT Netherlands/Project Counselling Service (PCS) have joined together to respond to the situation. They are proposing to respond through the following components:

• Food security
• Health assistance
• Psychosocial assistance
• Agriculture
• Risk management and advocacy

Project Completion Date:

30 November, 2004

Signed by:
John Nduna, ACT Acting Director

For full details of proposals and budgets, please click below to download a PDF file of the entire Appeal.

Colombia - Relief for the Internally Displaced - LACO31 (file size: 115 Kb)

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