Crisis response summary: Columbia - Displacement
Government capacity to address the humanitarian needs of returnees was stretched, particularly in the department of Norte de Santander,which saw the concentration of returnees. The other affected departments were La Gujira, Aracua and Vichada. Due to the presence of Armed Groups (AGs), the negative economic effect of the border closure on the above mentioned departments, the fact that many returnees had left without time to gather assets to support their displacement and some cases of family members being separated, meant that the returnees were significantly more vulnerable.
On 18 September, 49.5 hours after raising the Start Fund alert, £180,000 was awarded to 4 projects (ActionAgainst Hunger, Oxfam, Plan UK and World Vision), aiming to address Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL),Shelter, Child Protection and WASH needs. Activities focused on FSL (maintenance of goat herds, food packages and vouchers, capacity building on knapsack weaving and bracelet making), WaSH (hygiene kits including neo natal specific hygiene kits) and Child Protection (establishing child friendly spaces and awareness raising with teachers and parents).
Agencies faced several challenges during implementation. World Vision found that teachers had very limitedtime during the day to take part in child protection awareness raising sessions. Plan UK found that because many of the affected communities are nomadic and regularly move across a largely porous border in hard to reach places, it was hard to get reliable census data to establish needs. To address this challenge PlanUK worked with local community leaders to identify the most vulnerable households. Oxfam found that some members of the women’s group underestimated the time it would take to make a mochila. This made it harder to commercialize the products.
The project reached 6,761 people (52.6% female, 47.4%) with £180,136, 31.6% of those affected and 532 more than planned. Aid targeted single parent headed families, families with the highest number of children under 5, with pregnant and lactating women, without a steady source of income, with seven or more members and families form the Wayuu ethnic group. Children under 18 (54%) and people over 50 (7%) comprised 61%of people reached.