Deadly floods and landslides brought on by the longest and most
severe rainy seasons recorded in Colombia in the last 50 years,
have killed 444 people and directly affected more than three
million residents in the vast majority of the 1,121 municipalities
in the country.

Working with the Colombian government, IOM is investing some USD
22 million received from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund
(CERF), Colombia's Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF), the
Ministry of Education, United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) and the Organization's own funds, to assist
those most severely affected by building emergency shelters,
providing food rations and ensuring that 35,000 children can return
to temporary classrooms.

IOM and the Ministry of Education are erecting tents and
rehabilitating temporary structures while damaged or destroyed
classrooms are being rebuilt.  At the same time, IOM continues
to work on the rehabilitation of 142 damaged schools in eight
departments.

IOM and its partners also provided school supplies for 29,657
students in the department of Bolívar, with an additional
25,117 school kits to be distributed to children in the departments
of Sucre and Nariño.

"We are working very hard to ensure that the assistance reaches
the areas with the greatest needs," said Marcelo Pisani, IOM Chief
of Mission in Colombia, and added, "The damage goes beyond our
imagination. Luckily two entire towns were evacuated just before
landslides swallowed all structures.  Colombia will need a lot
of support to repair the damage left by this horrendous
winter."

With resources provided by the UN CERF, IOM is building 750
emergency shelters in the departments of Sucre and Cordoba, in
northern Colombia.  The shelters, locally known as tambos, are
elevated structures built next to flooded houses, in order to avoid
further forced displacement of families.

With ICBF funding, IOM distributed over 80,000 food rations for
children under five living in temporary shelters in twelve
departments around the country.  Some 255 tents are being
distributed to community daycare centres caring for more 12,000
infants in 10 departments.

For more information, please contact:

Jorge Gallo

IOM Bogota

Tel: +57 6397777

E-mail: "mailto:jgallo@iom.int">jgallo@iom.int