This year’s rainy season is coming on the heels of last year’s floods from which much of Colombia has yet to recover according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Colombia’s meteorological authorities have maintained red alerts for the main rivers and river basins in the country’s Andean region, More than 2 million Colombians were affected by last year’s floods, and in some places flood waters are yet to recede. The governors of some affected departments are reporting that this year’s flooding is worse than last year’s inundations, and the cumulative toll has risen to 410 people dead and 482 others missing.(News Centre Report – May 3, 2011)


“The emergency in some areas of the country is not yet over, and we are really concerned about the impact of the new rainy season on already affected communities,” said Stephanie Bunker, a spokesperson for OCHA. A food security assessment conducted by the UN WFP (World Food Programme) earlier this year found that the food security and nutrition situation in flood-affected areas have deteriorated sharply, with many households along the Caribbean and Pacific coasts – among the hardest-hit areas – reducing their number of daily meals to two or even one. A third of households in the assessment had no income source, and the situation is exacerbated by the rising costs of many basic foods.
Ms. Bunker said Colombian authorities had made significant efforts to respond to the floods, including holding a fundraising campaign that harnessed the support of the private sector, civil society and the international community. “We believe that it is very important to continue supporting the Government’s efforts as there are still unmet humanitarian needs, especially in the sectors of water, sanitation and hygiene, food security, nutrition and health, protection, housing and education.”
OCHA reported that the humanitarian situation has been further complicated by the flooding extending to areas also affected by the long-standing armed conflict within Colombia. Illegal armed groups, including new groups that have formed after paramilitary groups were demobilized, operate in these areas.

Conflict and natural disasters making life more difficult for many Colombians has become a longer standing theme. We have been making our effort to keep attention on this humanitarian and political situation as much of the globe’s focus is on other diplomatically “hot” areas.”

See Previous Reports including:
“Over two decades of conflict in Colombia has uprooted more than 3 million people. Now authorities warn of a serious threat to the very survival of several of Colombia’s indigenous tribes which live in isolated tropical forest-lands which are coveted by armed factions - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/movie/colombia-idps/20248

By Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey
Face Book at “Diplomatically Incorrect”
Twitter - DiplomaticallyX

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BELOW is OUR ARTICLE from END of APRIL 2011 on CONTINUING CONFLICT in COLOMBIA & IMPACT on INDIGENOUS PEOPLES.

New Cycle of Violence – “UN concerned over plight of hundreds displaced by violence in western Colombia” by Ambassador mo

Is Columbia headed toward another cycle of violence? After the chaos of the end of the last century perhaps many of us assumed that less violence meant that insurgency, right-wing militias and narco-gangs had disappeared. Clearly not.

This is an issue and story with which I have only limited knowledge. For those of you with greater knowledge, we welcome your input. Below is from UN News Center, April 28, 2011.

The United Nations refugee agency has voiced concern over the plight of hundreds of people in western Colombia who have been forced to flee their homes amid an increasingly violent struggle between illegal armed groups over the control of mining and coca farming in the area.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in press release issued yesterday that more than 1,800 people in the Pacific Coast departments of Valle del Cauca, Cauca, Choco and Narino have sought shelter in safer areas over the past two months for fear of being caught up in the violence.
In mid-April, about 200 people left the llano community near the municipality of Buenaventura due to clashes between illegal armed groups, according to local authorities. Violence in Narino, which borders Ecuador, forced more than 400 civilians – including Afro-Colombians and some indigenous people – out of their homes.
The local ombudsman also reported that an unknown number of people had left the Calle Larga and Santa Barbara areas in Narino and were moving towards Buenaventura, some 200 kilometres to the north.
UNHCR staff confirmed the forced displacement when they visited six villages in Valle del Cauca, where Buenaventura is located. They found some houses locked and belongings abandoned. Schooling had been disrupted and farming affected due to the presence of irregular armed groups.
The displacements started in early March when the security situation began deteriorating. Several murders were reported in the Valle de Cauca village of Agua Clara and along the Anchicaya River. More than 800 Afro-Colombians fled their homes along the river and sought refuge in Buenaventura.
UNHCR teams are visiting the affected areas and monitoring the situation to coordinate assistance. The Colombian Government is meanwhile providing assistance and protection to those displaced.

Latin America has become displaced as headline grabber for last couple of decades or more by events transforming the other continents. It’s not a bad thing to be absent from headlines, unless attention is needed to remedy or resolve.

See Film Report “Colombia IDPS” – “Over two decades of conflict in Colombia has uprooted more than 3 million people. Now authorities warn of a serious threat to the very survival of several of Colombia’s indigenous tribes which live in isolated tropical forest-lands which are coveted by armed factions - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/movie/colombia-idps/20248

By Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey
Face Book at “Diplomatically Incorrect”
Twitter - DiplomaticallyX