CHURCH WORLD SERVICE: EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM
CWS EMERGENCY APPEAL:
# 6728 Colombia Civil Strife
CWS Goal: $90,000
April 19, 2002


SITUATION: The political, economic and social situation in Colombia
remains among the most difficult and complex in the world; with the
collapse earlier this year of peace negotiations between the Colombian
government and the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC
as it is known by its Spanish acronym, Colombia faces a new cycle of
uncertainty and violence.

In many parts of the country, but particularly in southern Colombia,
battles between government troops, supported by paramilitaries, and
guerrilla groups are common. The civil population is affected by air
bombardments, indiscriminate fumigations, massacres, forced displacements,
lack of food, blocking of roads, and destruction of basic infrastructure.

Government estimates indicate that between 1996 and September 2001, some
1.62 million Colombians were displaced from their homes; at least 3,500
Colombians are killed annually in politically related violence.


RESPONSE:  CWS is continuing the appeal #6728, first issued in Feb. 15,
2001, for two projects.

1) The first is Project Counseling Service (PCS), a consortium of five
agencies: ACT Netherlands, Danish Refugee Council, Swiss Interchurch Aid
(HEKS), Norwegian Refugee Council and Interpares of Canada. PCS focuses
its work on human rights and gender equality in areas where internal
displacement is common.

PCS is seeking to provide protection and assistance to some 6,710 persons
- or 1,430 families - with food, health kits and cooking utensils,
income-generating programs, housing construction, legal assistance and
mental health and social support. Emphasis will be assistance for those
particularly vulnerable, including women and children, ethnic groups,
peasants and those on frontier communities.

Assistance will be provided in a number of areas, including Bucaramanga,
Oca*a and Catatumbo (northeast); in the capital of Bogota; in Urab* and
the Atlantic Coast; and in the frontier areas of southern Colombia.

The total amount for the PCS budget is $343,482

2)  The second project is the Rural Integral Development Program, a local
non-governmental organization in the southwest province of Putamayo -
specifically in the municipality of Puerto Caicedo. CWS sent $5,000 in
assistance to this program in 2001. This year, CWS is funding a second
stage of the project that will assist 250 female-headed households with
food needs in four Putamayo communities. CWS expects to send $15,000 for
this program.

CWS is strongly requesting $90,000 in denominational support for this
appeal.

Details of the response, including full budget figures for the PCS part of
the appeal, are available at the Action by Churches Together (ACT)
International website: www.act-intl.org


CHURCH WORLD SERVICE, Colombia Civil Strife, #6728, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart,
IN, 46515. Phone pledges or credit card donations: 1-800-297-1516.

On-line contributions to: www.churchworldservice.org
Call the CWS HOTLINE for updates: (800) 297-1516
Email: donnajderr@aol.com
On the Web: www.cwserp.org


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