Operations

2016 Plan Summary

While the conflict between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) intensified in the first half of 2015, negotiations have continued in Havana between the parties to conclude a peace settlement. Agreement was reached on the establishment of a Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition Commission and renewed efforts have been made to secure a ceasefire. UNHCR has given direct support to the negotiators on the restoration of victims’ rights affecting internally displaced persons (IDPs) populations and some 360,000 Colombian refugees. UNHCR also provides technical support to assist the Government in implementing comprehensive protection solutions to displacement, including emergency response.
 
Conflict and violence continue to generate displacement. In the first half of 2015, 2,020 families were newly displaced. Hundreds of Colombians continue to enter Ecuador each month, most of them fleeing violence in the southern areas of the country. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela had also been a destination for asylum-seekers; however, movements stopped in 21 August 2015, following the declaration of a state of emergency by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela along the border with Colombia and the closure of the the border.
 
UNHCR provides assistance to the Colombian authorities with the design and evaluation of public policies and strategies for IDP and refugee returnee protection. It is also handing over to the authorities tested solutions methodologies and lessons learned related to local integration, relocation and return carried out in 17 communities as part of the Transitional Solutions Initiative (TSI). Implemented jointly with UNDP, the TSI seeks to bring about sustainable protection, early recovery and development solutions.
 
Half of the displaced population in Colombia is subject to displacement to between and within urban centres, aggravated by non-state armed actors.