Colombia's Long Civil War Puts Millions on the Run

When you hear about internally displaced person, or refugees, you think of large camps. You think of populations on the run, driven from one country to another, a foreign country often reluctant to accept them. You don’t usually think of them as people living in a city. But that is the situation in Colombia. Colombia has the world’s third largest population of internally displaced persons, according to the UN News Centre in their May 12, 2005 article Joint UN study sheds light on plight of millions of displaced in Colombia (www.UNrefugees.org). A forty-year civil war has forced millions of Colombians from their homes. Many of them are forced into urban areas.

The UN World Food Programme and the International Committee of the Red Cross did a joint study on Colombia’s IDPs. The study found that the IDPs have certain things in common: "lack of steady income; inadequate housing, health services and education; and poor hygiene and sanitation all exacerbate food and economic insecurity." The study found that the IDPs spend an average of 58 percent of their income on food alone. Most of the rest is spent on housing and utilities such as water, electricity, and gas. This leaves only six percent of their income for healthcare and three percent for education.

The study attempted to get a realistic picture of the situation and the numbers involved so that they can improve the delivery of assistance to those in need.