In Colombia, more than 7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) due to conflict, still need assistance and a solution to their displacement. Most of the population lives in precarious conditions in the cities. Given the continuation and intensification of the armed conflict and violence, 75% of the IDPs decide to settle where they are, as they are not able to return. More than 65% of the IDPs live below the poverty line, only 15% have access to housing and 88% have not overcome their situation of vulnerability.
UNHCR prioritizes the realization of durable solutions for people displaced by conflict in Colombia, to put an end to their uprootedness, either through safe returns to their villages of origin, their relocation to safer areas within the country or their integration into the communities that are hosting them, mainly through the legalization of informal settlements in urban contexts. Colombia’s robust legal framework still needs to be complemented by a comprehensive durable solutions strategy. UNHCR is directly contributing to the design of such a policy for durable solutions that would bring these eorts to scale, while redoubling its own interventions on the ground to accelerate local integration processes, return and relocation and in 7 departments of the country.