A USD 8.4 million agreement, between IOM and the Ministry of
Education, will build schools and strengthen the curriculum
benefitting more than 8,000 displaced minors.

A USD 8,344,870 project, funded by the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) and the Ministry of Education,
will build 36 new schools and improve existing structures in
Colombia's border areas with Ecuador.  The project will also
conduct a series of studies to identify the current educational
situation in areas with large populations of internally displaced
persons, and apply the Open Doors School Strategy, developed by IOM
to allow teenagers and adults to attend classes in the afternoons
and evenings, covering basic reading and writing, vocational
training, conflict resolution, family abuse prevention,
psychosocial support, and sports and cultural activities. 

A second project of USD 43,405, with support from the Norwegian
Refugee Council (NRC), will focus on identifying flexible
pedagogical models that can be applied in poor urban settings with
a large displaced population.  The initial research to develop
the teaching models will be conducted in Bogota which currently
hosts some 230,000 displaced students. 

In 2008, IOM education projects in Colombia benefited more than
14,000 displaced minors.

According to official figures, some 2.8 million Colombians have
been displaced since 1997. 

For more information, please contact:

Jorge Andrés Gallo

IOM Colombia

Tel: + 57.1.594.6410 Ext. 142

Mobile: +57.311.561.9495

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