IOM Colombia participated in the handover ceremony following the
rehabilitation of a 200-year-old school in the historical town of
Mompox, in northern Colombia.

The newly refurbished school, designated by UNESCO as a World
Heritage Site, will serve 2,500 children.

Access to the area provided logistical challenges for IOM and
others working on the rehabilitation project, which took nine
months to complete; building materials were delivered by river
transport and over severely deteriorated roads.

At the hand over ceremony, Marcelo Pisani, IOM Chief of Mission
in Colombia said, "The students were working in classrooms that
were much deteriorated and were not safe.  Now the children of
Mompox have much better conditions to receive their
education.  For IOM it is a great satisfaction to deliver this
kind of support to isolated communities."

IOM is working with the Ministry of Education on 153
infrastructure projects refurbishing schools in 72 remote
municipalities.  The projects aim to improve conditions for
thousands of children across the country so that they can continue
their education beyond the primary level.

The President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, was also present
at the hand over ceremony.

The work was made possible with funding from the Colombian
Ministry of Education.

For more information, please contact:

Jorge Gallo

IOM Bogota

Tel: +57 1 622-7774

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