Forced Displacement and Women as Heads of Displaced Households in Colombia

Forced displacement has been a part of the Colombian social dynamic for decades. Although intensity and location have varied, the prime motivation for displacement has always been political violence. The first extreme period of forced displacement occurred during the era of bipartisan violence in the 1950s. But that period of forced displacement does not compare with the magnitude of the current situation in which the civilian population finds itself caught in the crossfire between leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries, and the armed agents of the state.

This report seeks to present a diagnostic of the current situation of the displaced population: the causes of displacement, the municipalities from which populations have been expelled, those that receive displaced people, and the demographic structure of the population affected by this phenomena. It also attempts to determine the gender of the head of displaced households, as well as the socio-economic conditions encountered by women who head these families.

The information presented in this report was compiled primarily with data provided by the Colombian Social Solidarity Network, the coordinating body of the National System for Integrated Information on the Population Displaced by Violence, as well as through detailed studies conducted by several non-governmental organizations. It should be noted that there is no central source of information in Colombia, and so many different research methods, sources, and definitions of displaced people and households must be taken into account. For example, the Colombian Episcopal Conference estimates that 47,000 people were displaced in eight church jurisdictions between January 1998 and September 2000. The Human Rights and Displacement Consultancy (CODHES), however, puts the figure at more than two million displaced between 1995 and 2000.

Furthermore, the Colombian government's 1999 report on forced displacement, Conpes 3057, states that between September 1995 and November 1999, 400,000 people were forced from their homes as a result of the armed conflict. The Colombian Social Solidarity Network attempts to bring together information on a national level and permanently track the displaced population using two main sources: the Estimation System for Contrasting Sources (SEFC) and the System for Registration of the Displaced Population (SUR).

The magnitude of forced displacement in areas of expulsion, arrival, return, and resettlement is measured through the SEFC. In order for the SEFC to accept information, the source or displaced population itself must provide details such as an account of the events that led to the displacement, information concerning the armed conflict, and the time frame in which the displacement occurred. The SEFC aims to identify the source of the information provided, the department and municipality in which the event occurred, the date, and the number of households and people displaced. With this information, the SEFC creates a profile of the displaced population, including age, gender, and ethnicity, which in turn leads to an understanding of provocations and parties responsible for the displacement. This system allows for a comprehensive estimate of the total displaced population of Colombia.1

The SUR, on the other hand, explicitly identifies displaced individuals and provides the Attorney General's office with notices of their displacement. This also allows for a basic characterization of the displaced sector gaining access to benefits available under the law. While these people are not necessarily representative of the displaced population as a whole, SUR's work helps form policies and strategies on the amount and quality of services provided.2

The Magnitude of Displacement in Colombia

A person is considered displaced in Colombia if they have been forced to migrate within the national territory, abandoning their residency or economic activities, because their life, physical well-being, security, or personal freedom has been reduced or directly threatened. This can occur as a result of the internal armed conflict, internal disturbances or tensions, generalized violence, large-scale human rights violations, infractions of international human rights, or other circumstances emulating from the aforementioned situations that could disrupt public order.3 In order for a person to be considered displaced, they must declare themselves as such before the System for Registration of the Displaced Population (SUR).

According to the Social Solidarity Network, 190,454 people from 42,743 homes in Colombia acquired displaced status in 2001. Of this population, 45 percent abandoned their homes during the first six months of 2001 and 55 percent fled during the second half of the year.4

The number of displaced people rose by 48 percent between 2000 and 2001. Massive displacements also increased, with 403 instances reported in 2001 as opposed to 254 in 2000. The proportion of people displaced in mass expulsions decreased, however, with 93 percent of the population displaced during 2000 fleeing under massive displacements, and only 64 percent expulsed under such conditions in 2001. This shows a drastic increase in individual persecutions and selective assassinations as the catalyst for personal or familial displacement.

During 2002, 311,392 people were registered as displaced, coming from 67,759 homes. Since 1994, 966,056 people have registered as displaced, and 193,042 of these were displaced during mass expulsions. The first mass expulsions occurred in 1997, affecting 41,071 homes that year.5

According to Hernando Moreno of the Social Solidarity Network, approximately 55 percent of the total displaced population stayed within its own department, while 24 percent fled to a department that was not geographically adjacent to their own. The remaining 21 percent left for a neighboring department. Of the total population displaced within their own department, 36 percent stayed within the same municipality and 51 percent left for the capital of the department. Those that remained within their municipality tended to have the largest families, with an average of 4.91 people. Of those who fled to a neighboring department, 48 percent went to the capital. The average family size of this group is 4.46 people.6 All of this indicates that approximately half of displaced people in Colombia leave their department and a similar proportion go to departmental capitals, whether within or outside of their department of origin. The families that make up these statistics have an average size of 4.56 people.

According to the System for Estimating Forced Displacement through Contrasting Sources (SEFC), 1,351 displacing events occurred in 2000, or four displacements per day. These involved 128,843 people from 26,107 homes, which breaks down to 352 people per day or 15 people per hour.7 The average number of displacements increased in 2001, with 5,134 more people displaced every month than during the previous year. This works out to 539 people per day or 22 people an hour. The situation became even more drastic in 2002 when 685 people displaced every day, almost doubling the number of daily displacements in 2000.8

In 2000, 480 municipalities registered as being affected by displacement. Of those, 158 were only affected by expulsions, 158 by arrivals only, and 164 by both conditions. In 159 of these municipalities, more than one displacing event was reported during 2000. Seventy-one of the 322 expulsions occurred in municipalities within Antioquia, the department with the highest number of registered displacing municipalities. Following Antioquia is Meta with 26 municipalities, Tolima with 20, and Cundinamarca with 17. Antioquia also had 35 receiving municipalities in 2000, the highest of any department. Cundinamarca registered 27, Huila reported 24, and Cauca had 22.

The highest numbers of people were displaced from the following municipalities: El Carmen de Bolívar (department of Bolívar) with 16,245 people, Betulia (Antioquia) with 6,013, and San Luis (Antioquia) with 5,474. The municipality that received the highest number of displaced people was Bogotá with 11,869 people. Following Bogotá was El Carmen de Bolívar with 8,029 people, Betulia (Antioquia) with 5,985 people, and Quibdo (Chocó) with 5,335 people.9

In 2001, events related to displacement were reported in 819 municipalities. This shows that displacement was affecting a growing proportion of Colombian territory, with 74 percent of all municipalities affected in 2001. Of these affected municipalities, 183 were exclusively expulsions, while 120 only received displaced populations and 516 municipalities both displaced and received populations.

Although displacement involved three quarters of Colombian municipalities in 2001, 65 percent of the displaced population came from 52 municipalities and 72 percent of displaced people settled in just 44 municipalities. The municipalities with the highest numbers of displacement were: Fundación (Magdalena) with 8.23 percent of all displacements, Buenos Aires (Cauca) with 3.71 percent, Buritica (Antioquia) with 2.96 percent, Peque (Antioquia) with 2.76 percent, Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca) with 2.75 percent, Barrancabermeja (Santander) with 2.18 percent, and San Luis (Antioquia) with 2.08 percent. Together, these seven municipalities generated 25 percent of the displaced population during 2001.

The municipalities which received the most displaced people were: Bogotá with 11.29 percent of the displaced population, Fundación (Magdalena) with 6.59 percent, Medellín (Antioquia) with 3.78 percent, Valledupar (César) with 2.90 percent, Buritica (Antioquia) with 2.80 percent, Cartagena (Bolívar) with 2.67 percent, and Peque (Antioquia) with 2.38 percent. These seven municipalities received 32 percent of the displaced population during 2001.10

Although every department other than San Andrés has taken in refugees, 51 percent of the displaced population is concentrated in five departments: Antioquia (18.47 percent), Bogotá (11.29 percent), Magdalena (8.59 percent), Bolívar (7.04 percent), and Cesar (5.75 percent). Also, every department other than San Andrés and Amazonas displaces populations. Still, 56 percent of the displaced population comes from five departments: Antioquia (20.77 percent), Magdalena (10.60 percent), Cauca (8.56 percent), Bolívar (8.21 percent), and Chocó (7.84 percent). The regions that displace the most people are Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Eastern Antioquia, Middle Magdalena, Urabá, and Sur del Valle. Together, these regions generate 35 percent of the displaced population, while receiving 30 percent of all displaced people. A look at the characteristics of the displaced population shows that on average 49 percent are women, 48 percent are under 18 years of age, 11 percent are Afro-Colombian, and 8 percent are indigenous.

There were many diverse causes of forced displacement in Colombia in 2000. Among the existing motives, the principle-identified cause has been generalized threats, explaining around 50 percent of all displacement and the expulsion of around 47,000 people. The second most identified cause of displacement is specific threats, accounting for 29 percent of cases. This is followed by massacres (7.09 percent), armed abduction (2.49 percent), and indiscriminant attacks (0.67 percent). In 0.1 percent of cases, more than one of these reasons was given.

According to the Social Solidarity Network, 58 percent of persons displaced in 2000 were driven from their homes because of paramilitary actions, 11 percent by guerrilla actions, less than one percent because of government forces, while 31 percent were displaced by the actions of more than one group.11

In 2001, 47 percent of the displaced population fled because of generalized threats, 23 percent because of armed conflicts, 11 percent because of specific threats, 9 percent because of massacres, 3 percent due to municipalities being captured, one percent because of indiscriminant attacks, and 6.69 percent because of other causes. Paramilitary actions caused 50 percent of displacements in 2001, guerrilla actions caused 20 percent, and government forces caused one percent. More than one group was active in 22 percent of these cases, and in 7 percent of cases no group has been identified.12

A December 15, 2002 SUR report showed an alarming increase in registered displaced families between 1995 and 2002. In 1995, 61 families were registered as displaced, 591 in 1996, 2,233 in 1997, 8,967 in 1998, 7,210 in 1999, 57,063 in 2000, and 67,727 in 2001. Another 67,759 families had registered by December 2002, for a total of 211,611 families since 1995. In the same time period, displaced people had fled from 788 municipalities (71 percent of all municipalities) and entered 454 municipalities (41 percent).13

Women as Heads of Displaced Households

Given the difference in risks and opportunities that exists between men and women, it is important to distinguish between genders as heads of households. Men and women face different types of violence, and statistics show that women are less frequently subject to specific violent attacks.

The vulnerability of households headed by women is based in part on a past lack of access to education, training, and employment opportunities, as well as discrimination in the job market. In addition, socioeconomic and political structures exclude women from playing an active role in the functions of their own communities.

Women are heads of approximately one third of the world's households, and this number is continually rising.14 In many cases, women assume this role after their husbands have been disappeared, murdered or persecuted. In some instances, however, women take on the position of head of the family because they have adapted better to the socio-economic conditions of running a household. The often horrific circumstances that lead to their rise to head of the family forces women to face not just the psychological traumas of desertion and loss, but also responsibility for the economic and social maintenance of the family. This situation continues to affect the displaced family in their area of resettlement, where poverty increases as the women try to adapt to their new surroundings without the help of a husband.15

It is difficult to gather facts on women as heads of households in Colombia, and only a few conclusions are possible. The distortion in research is due mainly to social, familial and economic non-recognition of a female head of household. This can happen in cases where a husband does not make himself economically responsible for the family, due to irresponsibility, physical incapability, or insufficient earnings. In other cases, the husband does not hold the economic power, but nevertheless makes the most important decisions for the family, including the distribution of his wife's salary. There are also situations in which it is difficult to determine the gender of the head of a household, such as when this responsibility is shared, or no single head can be determined.16 Situations also arise in which, despite a shared position of head of household, the woman registers herself as head in order to gain access to humanitarian aid and resettlement or return programs.

According to existing research for 2000, approximately 46 percent of displaced people come from homes consisting of a mother, father and children. Nearly 25 percent of displaced households in Colombia do not have the husband present, of which almost 70 percent have a female as head. There are also cases in which the household consists of relatives outside of the nuclear family, which make up 7.33 percent of all households, homes with relatives but no husband (13.8 percent), single-person homes (2.43 percent), and other types of households (0.93 percent).17

The Social Solidarity Network has made an effort to increase awareness about the situation of women as heads of households. To this end, the Network listed the genders of heads of households in its 2002 System for Registration of the Displaced Population (SUR) registries, and made these available to the general public. According to this registry, 21,394 homes headed by females were displaced in 2000, and 28,744 in 2001. By December 15, 2002, 30,203 homes with female heads had been displaced during that year, which represents 35.7 percent of all displaced households during that period. Of all the displaced families headed by women in Colombia since 1995 (84,726 households), 94.9 percent fled their homes between 2000 and 2002, which illustrates the dramatically deteriorating situation that has confronted Colombian women in just the past three years.

The SUR registry includes 211,701 households displaced between 1995 and December 15, 2002. Of these, women headed 84,726 homes, representing 40 percent of all registered households. This shows that, while in Colombia as a whole 24 percent of households have female heads, this proportion doubles among families that have been displaced. It is important to reiterate that the proportion of displaced households with female heads has increased substantially. In 2000 a woman headed 37.5 percent of displaced households. In 2001, this percentage rose to 42.44 percent and by December 15, 2002, women headed 44.7 percent of displaced homes.

More female-headed families have been displaced in Antioquia than any other department with 15,956 such households since 1995, which represents 18.83 percent of all displaced homes with women as heads of families. Bolívar comes in second place with 10,101 homes (11.92 percent), followed by Sucre with 5,510 (6.5 percent), Magdalena (5,258 households), César (4,839), Putumayo (4,735) and Caquetá (3,952).

The departments that received the highest numbers of displaced families headed by women between 1995 and December 15, 2002, are Antioquía (13,153 households), Sucre (8,151), Bolívar (6,852), Atlántico (5,117), Valle del Cauca (4,584) and Bogotá (4,303).18

While these women face many problems, the most serious is adapting to their new home while adjusting to the role of head of household. Many arrive in the capital cities of departments to social, cultural and economic situations that are very foreign to them. Throughout this adjustment, the women must take on a more dominant role than that to which they were accustomed when their husbands were present.

According to the Consultancy on Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES), three-quarters of all heads of households in Colombia are less than 40 years old, and 80 percent of members of families headed by women are less than 20 years old. CODHES has established that while there is a larger proportion of female heads of displaced households with primary education (61 percent of women), there is an equal proportion of displaced men and women with secondary education (approximately 20 percent) and a lower proportion of women with technical or university education (0.8 percent of women as opposed to 4 percent of men), making labor re-integration in areas of resettlement harder for women.19

The economic activities that families are involved in before being displaced (usually farming and ranching) are impossible to carry over to resettlement sites. The effects of this are felt on an individual level when displaced people are forced to make the difficult adaptation to new forms of work. There are also effects on a national level, as the de-ruralized economy modifies the nation's productive structure and creates a labor surplus of unqualified workers in areas of resettlement.

Gender divisions in the urban labor market quickly usher women into domestic jobs, such as cleaning and cooking. With this income women can sometimes assume the role of head of household more easily. Displaced families can also earn money through commerce in the informal sector, a practice taken on as much by men as by women.20

The only estimate of incomes earned by women who head displaced households is found in a CODHES study, which shows that in 1995 half of these women earned no wages, 23 percent earned less than the minimum wage, and 22 percent earned a salary equal to the minimum wage.

It is important to note that none of the Colombian government's humanitarian programs are dedicated specifically to women who head displaced households. This is only considered a preferable distinction when handing out aid, and whether or not the discretion is made is decided entirely by regional committees working with displaced populations. This is a troubling situation given the vulnerable position of these women and the compromised future they face if specific attention is not given to their situation.

Governmental Management of Aid for the Displaced Population

Those Colombians considered eligible for assistance as part of the displaced population are the 211,701 families included in the Registry of the Displaced Population (SUR) between 1995 and December 2002. Due to the very characteristics of their situation, assistance given to the displaced population should be coordinated with the efforts of national, departmental and local governmental agencies along with non-governmental organizations, international bodies, and private companies.

The Colombian government and its regional and national institutions are responsible for responding rapidly to humanitarian emergencies relating to violent forced displacement. Still, other institutions play an important role in resettling people after displacement. These institutions include non-governmental organizations, churches and community organizations, as well as private businesses, international aid agencies, academics, and the media.

The National System for Integrated Information on the Population Displaced by Violence (SNAIPD) is a conjunction of public, private, and community organizations that conduct plans, programs, projects, and specific actions concerned with integrated assistance for the displaced population. The SNAIPD, created under Law 387 of 1997, is managed by the Social Solidarity Network and is the body that oversees assistance for the displaced population or those at risk of displacement. This assistance includes preventative measures and accompaniment, humanitarian assistance, and resettlement programs that allow the affected population to rebuild their lives under dignified conditions.

As the coordinating body of SNAIPD, the Social Solidarity Network promotes projects that strengthen the mechanisms and management at various national levels. These levels include: the National Council for Integrated Assistance to the Displaced Population, the body charged with forming policy and divvying out SNAIPD programs; the Municipal, District, and Departmental Committees for Integrated Assistance to the Displaced Population, where programs, projects and actions are initiated, planned and decided upon; and the Permanent Workshops with the Displaced Population which is designed to strengthen community participation in the search for solutions to the problems surrounding displacement.21

Prevention of displacement should be understood as the combination of actions aimed at impeding or alleviating the impact of the armed conflict on displaced or at-risk populations. A National Operative Committee on Prevention has been established in order to coordinate intervention as part of the strategy of prevention. The Vice President of the Republic, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, the People's Council, and the Social Solidarity Network all work together as part of the Committee.

The Committee is responsible for formulating prevention policies, participating in the Inter-Sectoral Commission on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Rights to reform current policies and promote a National Assistance Plan, formulating national prevention plans, giving advice in the formation of leadership and management roles for departments within the Territorial Committees on Assistance for the Displaced Population, finding institutional mechanisms, and promoting methodologies for preventative policies under local management.

The components of prevention are as follows:

Security provided by the public forces to guarantee the protection of the displaced population and those at risk.
Early Alert System, which tries to prevent catastrophes resulting from threats or attacks on communities and also to avoid massive human rights violations by improving the level of threat response by state and social organizations.
Humanitarian Protection, which brings together the civil and humanitarian efforts that diverse organizations can lend to the population affected by violence.
Promotion of Peaceful Coexistence, which seeks to develop values and attitudes favoring the peaceful coexistence of society.
Strengthening of Settlement Conditions, which generates and strengthens the productive capacities of communities in areas of expulsion and guarantees the institutional intervention of the state in areas of potential expulsion.

The first consequences of forced displacement are a lack of access to basic necessities, as well as vulnerability and insecurity, especially for women and children. These situations need to be addressed immediately to determine SNAIPD's methods of emergency humanitarian support. SNAIPD gives immediate and temporary assistance to fill basic needs for food, health, psychological help, shelter, furnishing, emergency transportation, and public sanitation. This help is given in addition to SNAIPD projects of emergency help, assistance and support for the violently displaced population. Initial aid is supposed to be immediate and delivered as soon as a person reports having been displaced.

This aid is given out from the moment the act of displacement is reported to the SUR. Once the person has registered with the SUR, he or she has the right to receive emergency humanitarian aid for three months. This can be extended for another three months if the person meets criteria of vulnerability, solidarity, proportion, and equality. The Social Solidarity Network has established the following mechanisms for emergency humanitarian intervention when massive displacement occurs: the creation and initiation of assistance and orientation units in cities with medium and large sectors of the displaced population; non-governmental organizations which oversee relief efforts through delegated administrations; and, direct assistance in situations of massive displacement.

In addition to emergency humanitarian assistance, the displaced population should also benefit from other reestablishment programs. These programs make up the process that begins with humanitarian assistance and comes to an end only when the displaced people have available alternatives to rebuild their lives in a progressive and sustainable manner. Reestablishment programs and projects aim to offer the displaced population opportunities and alternatives for rebuilding their lives. These include resettlement in new homes, return to old homes, social and economic adjustment in new communities, and the enhancement of personal well-being to pre-displacement levels.

The intensification of armed actions has, among other things, expanded the area where conflict takes place and affected a larger number of social and community groups. Thus, the displaced population does not share a single culture or lifestyle, and each displaced community has different needs. Diversity and varying needs among displaced peoples require treatment of multiple issues at once and the simultaneous, combined actions of different public and private organizations. Resettlement programs should thus include local, departmental and national participation; facilitate the participation of the displaced population, including in planning and decision making processes; and strengthen the links between the displaced population and its receiving community. Consequently, resettlement programs should include plans for transition from emergency aid to long-term solutions. They also should include many options that are not simply decided by aid organizations, but include the displaced population and its host community in the decision-making process.

Resettlement programs include plans for eventual return, which is the process of resettling displaced people to the same site from which they were violently forced. The programs also include plans for resituation, which is the process of settling displaced people in a different location than their original residence.22

The Committee for Integrated Assistance to the Displaced Population defines the criteria under which the Social Solidarity Network provides services. These are measured according to the gravity of the situation, the specific needs of the displaced population, and any institutional proposals. Even so, the criteria should take into account aspects such as vulnerability (of age, gender, ethnicity, etc.), conditions of poverty, severity of risks, and organizational capacity. For this reason, a female head of household would only be considered as a factor of vulnerability, leaving the specific aid for this group to the discretion of regional committees.

Assistance given by the Social Solidarity Network and the SNAIPD take into account various aspects and sources. For returns and resettlement, information is provided by the Guide for Integrated Assistance to the Violently Displaced Population. This guide shows that 63,203 people returned to their homes between January 2000 and June 2001. Of this returned population, 83 percent settled in the departments of Antioquia, Chocó, Putumayo, Cauca, Bolívar and Magdalena. During the same period, 5,406 displaced people resettled in new areas because settlement in their original locations was impossible. Of this population, 80 percent settled in Chocó, Cundinamarca, Cesar, Córdoba, Santander and Sucre. All together, 68,609 people returned to their homes or resettled in new locations during this 18-month period. Although not all of the returning population was displaced during this same period, the approximate number of people who were displaced equals the number of people returned or resettled.

Thus, we can see that for every 100 people displaced, 30 returned, three resettled elsewhere, and 67 stayed on in their receiving communities. In the departments with the highest numbers of returns--Risaralda, Cundinamarca, Quindío, Arauca and Putumayo--an average of 69 percent of the displaced population later returned. On the other hand, the departments with the lowest numbers of returns--Vichada, Nariño, Guaviare, Valle del Cauca and Caquetá--only saw the return of an average of one percent of their displaced population.23

When undertaking actions to improve the conditions of settlement, it is useful to refer to information reported by the National System for Assistance to the Displaced Population in its February 2002 Report to the Colombian Congress. By this date, 36 local-level projects on peaceful coexistence had been undertaken. These projects attempted to create conditions of increased settlement and decreased forced displacement. The projects covered a total of 5,180 households, and had used a total budget of US$947,323. There were also seven projects specializing in psychological and social assistance, which reached 13,520 people and used a total of US$267,362.

During 2001, a total of US$5.5 million worth of humanitarian assistance was delivered to 2,549 families. During 2001 and 2002, the Program of Assistance for Municipalities Affected by Political Violence in Colombia subsidized US$394,897 in soft credits with 0.5 percent monthly interest, leaving US$149,856 available for grants. Ten educational certificates were also given to victims of violence during 2001, covering tuition and board at official recognized educational institutions. In addition, food and other assistance were given to 12,693 families forced from their homes during 144 separate massive displacements. Help was also given in assisting 13,332 families displaced during massive displacements across the country.

Economic assistance was also delivered during 2001, with 94 projects benefiting 10,614 families in 18 departments and 2 regions. The positive impact of these projects extends beyond increasing the income of families, affecting their successful insertion into new social and economic circumstances. This allows the families to seek governmental assistance as regular citizens and receive benefits beyond those intended for the displaced population. It is also easier for the families to generate fair social and economic relationships, a difficult task after being uprooted from their traditional environment. On the other hand, and especially in rural areas, when a family successfully returns to its home there is the further benefit of the economic regeneration of an area previously left unproductive due to the armed conflict.24

Finally, material aid for housing was also given out during 2001, attending to 6,724 displaced people through 209 local projects in 125 municipalities and 24 departments. Of these projects, one percent responded to instances of voluntary return, 17 percent were located in rural areas, 83 percent in urban areas and 10 percent were conducted in areas distributed under agrarian reform.25

It is important to note that the national government, through the Social Solidarity Network, assists in various ways that are not mentioned specifically in this report, such as material aid for health and education.

Conclusion

The research for this report allowed for the elaboration of two main conclusions. Firstly, the situation of displacement in Colombia is increasingly complex and extensive. Displacements within Colombia not only represent a social problem caused by violence and conflict, but also radically alter the lifestyle of those affected, thus changing the social, cultural and economic structure of the country.

Secondly, many Colombian women, after first surviving the armed conflict, must then confront a longer and more difficult struggle, fighting for their own survival and that of their families in new locations. In addition to confronting fear, war and the loss of loved ones (sons, husbands, fathers, etc.), these women are forced to take on the role of head of household, assuming economic responsibility as well as providing social and psychological support for their family. The opportunities for these women are limited, given that few are educated or posses the resources to initiate economic activity. As a result, these women are often dependent on governmental assistance.

In spite of this situation, the Colombian government does not have programs specifically designated for women who are heads of displaced families. Since these women face such a complex situation, and keeping in mind that they also must care for their children and elderly relatives, there is a need for special programs in areas of resettlement that give prioritized help to these women and facilitate access to work, health care, shelter and training. The government needs to immediately incorporate these women into work programs with conditions that allow them to look after their children. A woman's new status as head of the household means that her hardships continue long after the act of displacement.

The study of displacement entails much more than could be included in this report. No report could quantify the situation that thousands of Colombians face each year in order to defend their lives. Although the national government has supported various programs to assist the displaced population, its efforts have not been sufficient. Not only does the Colombian government provide inadequate short and medium-term assistance to the displaced population, it is also incapable of providing alternatives for those whose lives have been altered by displacement. This means much more than providing food and shelter. The near 20 percent unemployment rate limits the job opportunities available to farmers forcibly evicted from their lands. As the conflict extends over an increasingly larger area of the country, more and more Colombians are threatened with the possibility of forced displacement. The Colombian conflict is a conflict of poverty, a conflict aggravated by the absence of employment opportunities, education and a decent quality of life. It is a conflict in which guerrillas, paramilitaries, and government forces all target the civilian population.

Paula Andrea Rossiasco is currently doing post-graduate studies in economics at the National University in Bogotá. She formerly worked for the Colombian government's development agency FONADE (Fondo Financiero de Proyectos de Desarrollo).

Translated from the Spanish by Simon Helweg-Larsen.

This special report originally appeared in Colombia Report, an online journal that was published by the Information Network of the Americas (INOTA).

Notes

1. www.red.gov.co: SEFC, President of the Republic, Social Solidarity Network, December 24, 2001.

2. www.red.gov.co: SUR, President of the Republic, Social Solidarity Network, December 24, 2001.

3. Colombian Government's Decree 2569 of December 12, 2000.

4. Social Solidarity Network, "National System of Integrated Information on the Population Displaced by Violence; Report to Congress," January 2001-February 2002.

5. Social Solidarity Network, "National Registration of the Violently Displaced Population," December 15, 2002.

6. Hernando Moreno, "La composición del hogar y su jefatura en la población desplazada en Colombia en el año 2000," Social Solidarity Network.

7. Social Solidarity Network, "National Information Network of the Displaced Poplulation," February 2001.

8. Social Solidarity Network, "National System for Assistance to the Displaced Population," Report to Congress, January 2001-February 2002.

9. Social Solidarity Network, "National Information Network of the Displaced Poplulation," February 2001.

10. Social Solidarity Network, "National System for Assistance to the Displaced Population," Report to Congress, January 2001-February 2002.

11. Social Solidarity Network, "National Information Network of the Displaced Population," February 2001

12. Social Solidarity Network, "National System for Assistance to the Displaced Population," Report to Congress, January 2001-February 2002.

13. Social Solidarity Network, "National Registration of the Violently Displaced Population," December 15, 2002.

14. Carolina Moser, "Gender Planning in the Third World," Una nueva lectura: género en desarrollo, (Lima: 1991).

15. Social Solidarity Network, "National System for Assistance to the Displaced Population," Report to Congress, January 2001-February 2002.

16. CODHES, Colombia: Un país que huye, 2000.

17. Hernando Moreno; La composición del hogar y su jefatura en la población desplazada en Colombia en el año 2000; Social Solidarity Network.

18. Social Solidarity Network, "National System for Assistance to the Displaced Population," Report to Congress, January 2001-February 2002.

19. CODHES, Colombia: Un país que huye, 2000.

20. CODHES, Colombia: Un país que huye, 2000.

21. Social Solidarity Network, "Guide for Integrated Assistance for the Displaced Population," 2002.

22. Social Solidarity Network, "Guide for Integrated Assistance for the Displaced Population," 2002.

23. Social Solidarity Network, "Guide for Integrated Assistance for the Displaced Population," 2002.

24. Social Solidarity Network, "National System of Assistance for the Displaced Population," Report to Congress, January 2001-February 2002.

25. Social Solidarity Network, "National System of Assistance for the Displaced Population," Report to Congress, January 2001-February 2002.

This special report originally appeared in Colombia Report, an online journal that was published by the Information Network of the Americas (INOTA).