Assistance by the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security to the project in the Republic of Colombia

May 10, 2010
Japanese

On 10 May, the Government of Japan and the United Nations (UN) decided to extend assistance totalling 2,547,654.01 US dollars (approximately 239 million yen) through the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security to a project entitled “Improvement of human security conditions for vulnerable groups in Soacha, Colombia through the development of participatory, integrated and sustainable social protection solutions” in the Republic of Colombia, which is going to be implemented by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Development Fund for Woman (UNIFEM), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
Almost 50 years of armed conflict and the existence of drug cartels caused a large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Colombia. Soacha, one of municipalities which receive the highest number of IDPs, is facing threats such as extreme poverty, underemployment, social and sexual violence and deficient access to public basic social services. Aiming to address such human security threats, this project is going to strengthen governance at local level, empower communities and improve access to quality social services. The activities will include the following:

－making public policies and establishing control mechanism on gender and rights of IDPs, women and young people;

－making strategy on access to health services and education and technical assistance to IDPs and people in host communities, and conducting trainings to staff of local authority, health service providers and community members to implement the strategy;

－providing technical assistance and materials which are necessary for family garden aiming at improvement of nutrition condition and food security, and making and implementing local policies therefor;

－Creating and equipping classroom and in-school garden and empowering teachers to provide educational opportunities to internally displaced children and adolescents;

－Raising awareness on young people’s rights, prevention of conflict, violence, consumption of psyco-active substances and human trafficking, and empowering groups of young people.
This project is expected to promote the human security of vulnerable groups, including IDPs and people suffering from extreme poverty through protection and empowerment.

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