Attachments
Context
Located in the northwest of South America, at the level of the Equator, Colombia has a diverse geography. It is home to the Andean region, the Amazon region, an extensive plain shared with Venezuela, and both Caribbean and Pacific coasts and islands. Ranked 29 by the INFORM Risk Index, Colombia is exposed to a broad range of natural hazards, hydrometeorological as well as geophysical. More than half of the people affected by natural hazards are also affected by the presence of armed groups and violence. Floods, landslides and flash floods are the most recurrent events, due to the rainy season and the La Niña phenomenon.
There are currently eight non-international armed conflicts in Colombia. Three of them are between the government of Colombia and the following armed actors, respectively: the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Gaitanist Self- Defence Forces of Colombia (AGC) and former FARC-EP currently not adhered to the Peace Agreement (former FARC- EP). The other five conflicts are between non-state armed actors. By the first week of July 2023, there were already 53 massacres with 173 victims nationwide.
Consequently, internal and external displacement continue in the country with data registering 939,000 displaced people between 2017 and October 2022. Over 70 per cent of those displaced cite acts of threats of violence or direct violence against them or clashes between armed groups (state and non-state) as their reason of leaving. The remaining 29 per cent of internally displaced said they left because of the larger context of violence. As of November 2023, more than 2.8 million Venezuelans lived in Colombia, having fled Venezuela for similar reasons.
Colombia also faces health-related challenges as it works toward ensuring equity in health protection. The two main challenges are maintaining adequate financing of the health and social protection sector and continuing to make the necessary adjustments to ensure the financial sustainability of the General Social Security System (SGSSS).
The country also is struggling with gender-based violence. Due to the widespread and intersecting nature of the conflicts, perpetrators of gender-based crimes are rarely held accountable. In addition, Indigenous and Afro-Colombian women have been affected disproportionately. Among 3,445 cases of murder in Indigenous and Afro-Colombian individuals, 65.5 per cent were women. High levels of poverty also remain a concern within the Indigenous and Afro- descendant communities.
In June 2022, Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez were elected as President and Vice President of Colombia. The government presented a plan during the presidential campaign to work towards gender equality, the promotion of equality, the recognition of the care economy, the fight against climate change, the energy transition, rural reform and the implementation of the Peace Agreement signed in 2016.