Colombia Figures
Crisis overview
Colombia continues to face a multidimensional yet growing humanitarian crisis driven by the reconfiguration of conflict, climate-related disasters, and the needs of refugee and migrant populations. Rural, ethnic, refugee, and migrant communities remain disproportionately affected. The fragmentation of non-state armed groups (NSAGs) and their efforts to expand territorial and social control have intensified violence against civilians. Approximately 78 per cent of the rural population (9.9 million people) live under the influence of at least one NSAG . In 2025, 1.5 million people were affected by conflict and violence—three times more than in the same period of 2024.
In 2025, Colombia recorded one displacement per day and one confinement every three days. The Catatumbo region (Norte de Santander) accounted for one-third of all IDPs nationwide. Crises persisted in the Pacific and northwestern regions and spread to the Caribbean and Amazon, indicating the expansion of conflict into previously stable areas. Fears of retaliation and social control forced families to flee silently, masking the true scale of displacement.Grave violations against children have increased for the fifth consecutive year, with forced recruitment and use of children and adolescents—especially among Indigenous and Afro-descendant groups—eroding community resilience. Rising incidents involving explosive devices and drone-deployed munitions have further heightened civilian risks.
Chocó, Colombia
A humanitarian team arrives by boat to support Afro-descendant communities affected by displacement and confinement.
OCHA/Jorge PeñaBy 2025, over 1.3 million people faced humanitarian access constraints, reflecting the deterioration of protection and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) compliance in areas with limited state presence. Alarmingly, by September 2025, 403 incidents against medical missions were recorded—the highest figure in nearly three decades. Women and girls have been disproportionately affected by the conflict. Between 2021 and 2025, over 6,000 cases of sexual violence were reported, 90 percent involving women and girls. NSAGs have increased the recruitment and exploitation of girls, while restrictions on health services and reproductive rights continue to put women’s lives at risk.
In 2026, 10.4 million people in Colombia are projected to need humanitarian assistance — 6.9 million under the HNRP and 3.5 million under the RMRP — a 30% increase in severe needs compared to 2025. This rise stems from the overlapping impacts of conflict, climate shocks, and migration, as failed peace efforts and the expansion of non-state armed groups drive displacement, confinement, and social control, while recurrent disasters worsen conditions in already vulnerable areas. The RMRP’s 3.5 million PIN targets Venezuelan refugees and migrants, prioritizing protection, health, and socio-economic inclusion to reduce dependency and strengthen resilience among those remaining in Colombia and pendular populations.
Response priorities and financial requirements for 2026
In 2026, the humanitarian community in Colombia will advance the Humanitarian Reset, delivering a coherent, localized, and impact-oriented response tailored to the country’s complex mixed-setting context. The Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) 2026 establishes clear operational boundaries based on intersectoral severity levels 4 and 5, humanitarian access, and operational capacity, ensuring that limited resources are directed where they can save the most lives and protect those most at risk.
The response will continue in line with the hyper-prioritization carried out in May 2025, focusing on municipalities with the highest severity levels, in 16 Departments. It will be guided by territorial humanitarian plans developed for the departments of Antioquia, Arauca, Cauca, Córdoba, Chocó, La Guajira, Nariño, Norte de Santander, and Putumayo. These plans incorporate Flagship initiative principles and operationalize community-identified priorities and promote joint planning, multi-sectoral coordination, and localized implementation, ensuring that humanitarian action reflects the voices and needs of affected populations.
Sucre, Colombia
Humanitarian mission to La Mojana following large-scale flooding.
UNFPA / Wendy SerranoIn the remaining seven departments, [1] where needs remain acute, but the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) has limited presence or capacity, assistance will be delivered through localized rapid response mechanisms supported by multiple funding streams, including the Regional Humanitarian Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean (RHF-LAC). These mechanisms will enable timely, community-led responses to address sudden displacements, confinements, movement restrictions, and disaster-related shocks.
For 2026, the target population is 2.6 million people, representing a more focused and achievable reach aligned with severity levels, operational realities, and expected funding. Overall financial requirements amount to $384 million, an increase of 12.3 per cent compared to the 2025 total requirements, reflecting the rise in needs and requirements specifically in the prioritized response areas (severity levels 4 and 5).
Strategic priorities for 2026 include:
- Delivering life-saving assistance in areas of highest severity, while strengthening community-based protection systems.
- Advancing protection-centered programming for ethnic communities, women, and children, and reinforcing protection risk analysis to guide interventions in LCTs.
- Maintaining rapid response capacity in conflict- and natural disaster-affected areas with limited access to the HCT.
- Empowering local and community-based organizations and authorities to sustain localized humanitarian action.
- Enhancing coherence and complementarity among humanitarian, peace, and development efforts to support sustainable transitions, while preserving distinct mandates.
- As a Flagship pilot country, Colombia will continue to ensure meaningful community engagement across all activities throughout 2026.
Despite persistent access constraints, insecurity, and funding gaps, the 2026 HNRP aims to keep humanitarian action principled, needs-driven, and locally anchored, proving that stronger coordination and localization can maximize impact even with fewer resources.
Colombia
2025 in review: Response highlights and consequences of inaction
Response highlights
Humanitarian assistance
In 2025, an estimated 970,000 people across 349 municipalities in Colombia received humanitarian assistance. Of these, 571,300 people — representing only 28% of the target — were reached through the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) 2025. The remaining population was assisted through complementary funding sources, including the CERF allocation for Catatumbo (94,450 people), and approximately 305,200 people supported through other Rapid Response Mechanisms (RRMs) and alternative financing modalities.
Regional Humanitarian Pool Fund
Local and national organizations implemented 31% of all humanitarian responses through the Regional Humanitarian Pool Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean (RHPF-LAC) and other alternative financing modalities, marking significant progress toward localization and advancing the Humanitarian Reset agenda.
Protection services
201,000 people benefited from protection services, including legal aid, psychosocial support, and community-based protection activities addressing child recruitment, sexual violence, and gender-based violence.
Protection Cluster humanitarian ResponseFood Security and Nutrition
273,000 people were reached through food security and nutrition interventions targeting displaced and host communities affected by conflict and climate shocks.
Food Security and nutrition cluster responseRapid Response Mechanisms
11 Rapid Response Mechanisms (RRMs) were activated, enabling timely life-saving assistance, reinforcing protection responses in high-severity areas, and reducing operational costs.
Community feedback
Community feedback and communication mechanisms in prioritized departments enhanced participation, accountability, and responsiveness to affected populations.
Central Emergency Response Fund
The implementation of life-saving projects in Catatumbo, funded by the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), strengthened humanitarian access and delivered assistance to 94,000 people.
Chocó, Colombia
Humanitarian mission in an Indigenous community, providing food kits to support families facing confinement and the risk of forced recruitment.
FISCH/Haminson MenaConsequences of funding cuts
Underfunding
A 71% funding gap left 1.4 million people in need without assistance, mainly in protection, food security, WASH, health, and education. After reprioritization, the funding gap stands at 52%, highlighting the continued shortfall in meeting critical needs.
Humanitarian Response
According to the Presidential Agency for International Cooperation of Colombia (APC-Colombia), around $1.8 billion in Official Development Assistance (ODA) has been allocated to humanitarian aid, representing 30% of total mobilized resources. However, shifting global priorities and new crises have led to a 12% annual decline, with a projected 60% reduction by 2030, further constraining humanitarian response capacity and underscoring the need for greater international support and complementarity.
APC ColombiaAccess constraints and challenges
Access restrictions and insecurity hampered operations in 167 municipalities, leaving 333,000 people without regular aid.
Monitor OCHA, humanitarian Access Constrains data.Emergency Directors Group
The Emergency Directors Group (EDG) decision on transition increased donor uncertainty. Some 13% of partners are suspending or scaling down humanitarian operations in 2025.
This corresponds to a decrease in main partners (from 39 to 34, a reduction of 5 partners) compared to the same period last year, according to the 5W response activity reports
Córdoba, Colombia
A resident of the Batata community is on her way to participate in a session on International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights, and Peace.
OCHA/Luisamaría RodríguezLocalization in action: turning strategy into impact
In 2025, localization became the engine of Colombia’s humanitarian transformation under the Flagship Initiative, shifting from commitment to concrete action. Guided by the national localization strategy, partners consolidated early achievements through a participatory review that placed Colombian organizations at the center of humanitarian leadership.
The Localization Working Group, composed entirely of national actors, emerged as a driving force for change. It was transformed into the PAHNAL platform (National Humanitarian Action Platform Colombia) in October 2025, consolidating an organizational space led by local NGOs. More than 300 national Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) were mapped as key contributors and direct beneficiaries. They participated in 10 capacity-building initiatives, gained access to a digital collaboration platform, and joined a social media forum that expanded funding access and peer-to-peer learning.
Localization advanced further under the Humanitarian Reset, as the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) formally adopted it as one of its five strategic priorities, backed by clear objectives and accountability mechanisms. The Regional Humanitarian Pool Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean region (RHPF-LAC) provided tangible support, financing 11 locally led projects that enabled community actors to deliver rapid, life-saving assistance while strengthening community protection and resilience.
By 2026, Rapid Response Mechanisms and community protection systems will continue serving as operational arms of the response in underserved territories, maximizing limited resources and ensuring no one is left behind.
Localization in Colombia is now action—building a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable humanitarian system.
References
- Influence refers to situations of control, presence, and interference within the territory. Although each NSAG operates differently, their influence exposes the population to coercive and lethal forms of violence, including threats, targeted killings, movement restrictions, the imposition of behavioral codes, forced displacement, and other humanitarian consequences. The population is forced to coexist with their constant presence, movements, armed actions, and strategies aimed at maintaining or expanding territorial control, which have become part of daily life.
- As of octobre 2025.
- Data according to Unit for the Attention and Integral Repair of Victims (UARIV)
- Local Coordination Teams.
- Humanitarian Country Team.