The Colombian Government's Project for the Protection of Land and
Patrimony of the Internally Displaced Population and Those at Risk
of Displacement, which receives financial, technical and
administrative support from IOM, has secured 2.9 million hectares
of land belonging to internally displaced Colombians.

The project, which began in 2002 and is headed by the
Presidential Agency for Social Action and International Cooperation
(ACCIÓN SOCIAL), promotes legal protection for internally
displaced Colombians who have been forced to abandon their land
and/or territories, as well as for those at risk of abandonment or
dispossession, by preventing illegal appropriation by those
responsible for the displacement or dispossession, or by a third
party.

In the past six years, the project has provided protection for
91,818 properties belonging to internally displaced persons located
in 116 of the country's municipalities.  Decree 2007 and Law
1152 on Rural Development require the Colombian Government to
protect the patrimony of displaced populations and victims of the
ongoing violence.

Internal displacement in Colombia has forced 2,808,900 people to
flee their homes, according to official figures released November
30th 2008. The Government estimates that between two and four
million hectares have been abandoned due to forced
displacement. 

IOM manages the funding allocated by the Colombian Government
and receives technical and financial support from the World Bank,
USAID, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), UNHCR
and the European Commission.

The project has also made important strides in the issuance of
deeds, not only to owners, but to others including possessors,
occupants and holders, and in providing information and raising
awareness amongst the internally displaced and other vulnerable
populations of their land and patrimonial rights.

It is being implemented in the departments of Antioquia,
Bolívar, Cauca, Norte de Santander, Santander, Sucre, Valle
del Cauca, Magdalena, Atlántico, Córdoba,
Cundinamarca, Meta, Tolima and Chocó.

For more information please contact:

Jorge Andres Gallo

IOM Colombia

Tel: 57.1.594.6410 ext. 142

Mobile + 57.311 561 94 95

Email: "mailto:jgallo@iom.int">jgallo@iom.int