Colombia : Assistance to displaced people - Active institutions and organisations database

 Oferta Institucional  

The ICRC has set up a database on the aid furnished to displaced people by the States directly and by international, national and local organizations. The data is derived from a field study carried out in direct contact with over 350organizations working in the various departamentos. The study dealt first and foremost with the emergency humanitarian aid (food and other relief, housing, transport, education, health care, etc.) provided by these organizations to displaced people. It also covered people who return to find their homes destroyed and those who find new homes elsewhere. In addition to being forced to flee one's home, there are other ways in which people are affected by the conflict and there are organizations that help those concerned. One example is the psychological trauma suffered by people who survive a terrorist attack or the experience of being taken hostage. There are also organizations that go on helping war victims after the hostilities have ended (land redistribution, income generation, etc.). The ICRC has therefore included in the same database information on organizations that are active in these different areas (displaced people, trauma victims and post-conflict assistance).

 Why such a database?  

To enable displaced people to receive adequate assistance, it is important that the various non-governmental organizations and other aid-givers be able to effectively coordinate their efforts and to work in a complementary fashion, and the purpose of the database is to facilitate communication between them. Helping the victims of conflict is a priority for the ICRC. While it in no way wishes to substitute itself for the Colombian Government, it has set up the database in order to help all those involved to protect and help displaced people more effectively. Depending on their needs and location, the displaced can be referred to the entity best able to assist them.

 Objectives:  

• enable displaced people to receive adequate assistance;

• give both beneficiaries and those helping them information on the work carried out by others (Who does what? For whom? How can they be contacted?);

• ensure that the assistance provided to displaced people in the emergency phase is complementary to that provided in the post-emergency phase.