Colombia
For more than 40 years Colombia has been in the grip of civil war. In the last 20 years, 4 million people have been forced to leave their homes because of the fighting. Armed groups regularly recruit children. Many children also face violence at home, as the burden of displacement and poverty leads to family breakdown, abuse and exploitation.
Life in Tumaco
Five people tell us about their life in Tumaco, where 44% of the population is under the age of 18. Many people do not have regular work and struggle to provide for their families. Violence is common, due to the large numbers of armed groups in the area, and children often have to drop out of school to work or if their family is forced to move.
Save the Children has been working for more than three years in Tumaco, through a project that tries to improve access to and the quality of education for children. We also have a child-friendly space where children have the opportunity to play safely and to learn about their rights and how to protect themselves from recruitment by armed groups.
What we’re doing
- We’ve helped thousands of children avoid recruitment into armed groups.
- We’re helping to protect nearly 250,000 children from violence and abuse.
- We’re helping more than 9,000 children get a better education.
- We’re helping vulnerable communities prepare for natural disasters.
We’re protecting children from violence and abuse
There are between 11,000 and 14,000 child soldiers in illegal armed groups. Children are used as messengers, spies, informants, human shields, guards, human mine detectors, participants in suicide missions and for combat operations. We’re helping vulnerable children protect themselves from being recruited.
- We support local initiatives, such as a radio station run by young people to educate their peers on issues like protection, forced recruitment and abuse.
- We’re working with the government in Bogotá to develop an integrated protection service for 1 million children and young people.
- We’re working with the Ministry of Social Protection to eradicate child labour and protect more than 1 million young workers.
- We’re promoting a campaign – Marcela, aqui cambia la traduccion – to make the capital, Bogotá, a safe city for children.
Our work to protect children from harm has gained us national recognition and we’re now seen as one of the major child protection agencies influencing government policy and national strategies.
Over the next two years, we aim to have helped 600,000 children by improving protection systems and changing the attitudes of parents, teachers and other adults in the community.
We’re improving education
Almost a quarter of Colombia’s 12 million children are not in school because of poverty, displacement and violence. Teachers are often poorly trained and teaching methods tend to be authoritarian.
We’re supporting the government’s efforts to provide child-centred teacher training, increase the number of alternative educational programmes and provide a good quality education for displaced children.
We’ll help more than 2,000 children affected by conflict and displacement gain access to basic education. And more than 600,000 children will benefit from improved teaching methods so that what they learn is relevant to their lives.
We’re helping children and families hit by natural disasters
Colombia is prone to natural disasters such as flooding. Many of those worst affected have already been forced from their homes by the country’s long-running conflict.
When floods hit the regions of Choco and Bolivar last year, we were able to persuade the government to declare a state of emergency by presenting photographic evidence of the damage.
As part of our ongoing emergency prevention and preparedness work, we’re involving children in working with schools, governments and NGOs to draw up plans to make sure that in emergencies and crises, children are protected from violence, abuse and exploitation – including being forcibly recruited into armed groups.
Find out more
For more information, download the Colombia country brief (PDF 113KB).
Learn more about our work in Colombia, download our Children's Rights Fact Sheet (PDF 690KB).
Or read Cristhian's story to see how we're helping disadvantaged children get an education, in partnership with Fine Foods International - makers of FAIR INSTANT coffee.
Descargar este documento para enterarse de qué hacemos en Colombia 2008/09 (PDF 153KB).