General situation

In Colombia

Colombia has suffered from more than 50 years of civil war. There were two main opposing parties, the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), a communist organization, and the government. Negotiations with FARC have been going on since 2012, and a final peace agreement was achieved in 2016. However, the social situation in Colombia remains unstable. During the war, FARC particularly targeted the countryside, which resulted in a massive migration to urban areas. Today, at 7 million internally displaced persons, Colombia has the second highest number of internally displaced persons in the world (IDMC 2014). These people live in city slums, and 70% of them are low-income, single mothers. 

Over 49.8 million of inhabitants 

  • 28% of the population lives below the poverty line (less than 2 USD per day)
    7.9% of the population lives below the extreme poverty line (less than 1.25 USD per day)
    9.2% of unemployment
    10.6%  of the inhabitants are internally displaced
    14.2%  of the children suffer from acute malnutrition
    18.7% of child mortality rate among children born during the last 5 years
    36.4% of the households depend on single women's incomes
    17.4% of the women between 15 and 19 years old are either mothers or pregnantAt least
    30'000 children are street children
    (Sources: DANE, ENDS, ACNUR, ICBF 2015 - 2016)