Humanitarian Action for Children 2011 - Unicef

ColombiaHumanitarianfunding at work:Highlights from 2010In 2010, an estimatedUS$6 million was neededfor UNICEF’s humanitarianactivities in Colombia. Asof October 2010, only 8 percent of the funding goal hadbeen received. However,funds from other sourceshave allowed UNICEF toimprove the prospects ofwomen and children inthe following ways: 43,000children and adolescentsbenefited from an integratedresponse in health, nutrition,water, protection, sanitationand education; 500 pregnantand lactating women and6,500 children under age 5were provided with nutritioncare and education; 3,900rural children under 5 andfamilies affected by armedconflict were provided withfood, protection and supportfor early child development.The paucity of funds meantthat some humanitarianactivities planned for 2010in preventing and treatingHIV and AIDS could not beundertaken.Children and women in crisisThe great humanitarian burden in Colombia is centred on violence related to a conflict thathas disrupted the lives of Colombians for four decades and continuously violates internationalhumanitarian and human rights law. The existence of illegal armed groups, the near-constantthreat of violence related to conflict and illegal drug trafficking, massacres, landmine accidents,extortion, and forced recruitment put women and children at grave risk. During the pastdecade, on average hundreds of thousands of Colombians each year have been forced toabandon their homes – 289,000 in 2009 alone 1 – placing Colombia second only to the Sudan inits number of internally displaced people.Against this backdrop of political turmoil, Colombians have also been exposed to naturalhazards. During the last three months of 2010, the weather phenomenon La Niña causedflooding and landslides affecting close to 1.3 million people in 599 municipalities located in28 of the country’s 32 departments. 2 The heavy rains have already diminished access to safedrinking water, health care and education, and are expected to continue through March 2011.Taken together, these emergency conditions have increasingly eroded the rights of children,particularly those in rural communities and those who are already excluded from opportunitybecause of race, gender or geographical location. Reaching these children and their families isone of the key challenges to providing humanitarian assistance in Colombia.Meeting urgent needs and building resilience in 2011UNICEF will work with the Government of Colombia, other UN agencies and NGOs to addressthe needs of 444,000 people, including 9,000 women, 208,000 boys and 223,000 girls. As leadagency supporting the national round tables on WASH, education and nutrition in emergencies,UNICEF expects to achieve a number of key results.• Nutritional services and supplies will be provided to 20,000 children and 4,000 womenwho are pregnant or breastfeeding from African-descendent and indigenous communitiesaffected by natural disaster, armed violence and displacement.• 50,000 children, adolescents, and pregnant and lactating mothers in these communities willhave access to services and emergency health supplies, including micronutrient supplements,therapeutic foods and insecticide-treated mosquito nets.• Antiretroviral medicines and other critical supplies used to prevent HIV transmission andto provide post-exposure prophylaxis will be made available to 50,000 people affected bynatural disasters, armed violence and displacement. 10,000 people (2,000 families) in ruralcommunities will have access to safe and sufficient water and sanitation.• 109,500 children from disaster-affected schools in rural communities will be able to exercisethe right to education when their schools are repaired or refitted to make them safe, disasterresilientand child-friendly.• 200,000 children (102,000 boys and 98,000 girls) who live in rural areas of the country – andare affected by natural disaster, forced confinement or displacement, high risk of accidentsfrom mines and unexploded ordnance, and recruitment by armed groups – will be protectedthrough mine risk education and their participation in specific programmes aimed atrecruitment prevention.Funding requirements for 2011UNICEF is requesting US$10.3 million for its 2011 humanitarian work in Colombia, an increaseof almost US$4 million compared with 2010. These funds are needed to expand aid to themost vulnerable communities and address increased emergency situations caused by naturaldisasters during the last months of 2010 and the escalating effects of ongoing armed conflict.More information on 2010 achievements and details of the humanitarian actionsplanned for Colombia in 2011 can be found at www.unicef.org/hac2011 and at thecountry web site at www.unicef.org.co (in Spanish).1. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre and Norwegian Refugee Council, ‘Internal Displacement: Globaloverview of trends and developments in 2009’, IDMC and NRC, Geneva, May 2010, p. 51.2. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Colombia. Temporada de lluvias 2010,Fenómeno de La Niña” [The rainy season: The La Niña phenomenon], Bulletin, no. 9, OCHA, New York, 24November 2010, p. 1.UNICEF EMERGENCY NEEDS FOR 2011 (in US dollars)Total $10,300,000580,000Health3,520,000 Child protection500,000HIV and AIDS700,000Nutrition1,050,000 WASH3,450,000 Education 500,000Cluster coordination56 2011 UNICEF Humanitarian Action FOR CHILDREN | www.unicef.org/hac2011Colombia