ReliefWeb

Highlights

After almost four years of peace negotiations, the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group reached a deal to end more than 50 years of conflict. The two sides agreed to a bilateral and definitive ceasefire that came into effect on August 29th.
A plebiscite will be held on the 2 October to approve or disapprove the peace accord. The Security Council stressed the UN's commitment to verify the ceasefire, the cessation of hostilities and the disarmament through a UN political mission.

WFP Assistance

WFP's strategy in Colombia complements the government's peacebuilding efforts and aims to build government capacity by strengthening social programmes, which will improve the food and nutrition security of conflict-affected populations. Based on lessons learned and in consultation with the Government, donors and other partners, WFP is reorienting its strategy in Colombia through a strategic review process. Important shifts include the transition from humanitarian assistance to longer-term solutions for recovery. Thematic priorities include resiliencebuilding, capacity strengthening, gender and nutrition sensitive programming with a focus on dispersed rural areas and vulnerable and marginalized ethnic groups.

As of today, WFP has adopted innovative approaches to assist displaced, confined and returnee populations and supports small farmers by providing vulnerable populations with e-vouchers that are redeemed at farmers’ associations. Thus, WFP promotes the consumption of fresh nutritious foods and creates market opportunities for smallholder farmers.
Additionally, through asset creation activities and trainings, WFP strengthens the resilience of communities affected by conflict and natural disasters.
The Government is particularly supportive of this new approach, which is aligned with its post-conflict strategy.

WFP and partners conduct trainings on gender equality (including women's and girl’s rights, sexual and reproductive health, shared domestic responsibilities and violence against women) in addition to mainstreaming gender in all activities. Actions such as organizing food distributions closer to targeted communities and minimizing waiting time resulted in a higher participation of women. WFP activities seek to promote the leadership of women and their greater participation in oversight and accountability

committees, in order to strengthen their decisionmaking in project design and implementation.

WFP established a committee with government partners to coordinate the implementation of the Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) and guarantee the complementarity of actions and ensure the flow of information. A multi-donor trust fund (MDTF) has been set up to align with the government’s social programmes, with the aim of strengthening their capacities through a wide range of food assistance tools. The MDTF complements WFP's PRRO and effectively contributes to the implementation of WFP's strategy in Colombia.

WFP started to develop the National Study on Food Security and Nutrition in Indigenous Communities (ENSANI). This study is carried out with the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF), the National Department of Statistics (DANE) and the National Institute of Health (INS). The trust fund covers the second stage of the study. During the first stage (2015), information was gathered from four indigenous groups located in Arauca, Meta and Guaviare provinces. In the current phase, information will be collected among four additional groups, in the Caquetá and Putumayo provinces.