Colombia Tackling protracted displacement post-conflict After six years of negotiations between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country finally reached a peace deal in late 2016 to end more than 50 years of armed conflict that cost more than 260,000 lives and displaced more than seven million people.64 Violence has continued, however, with the assassination of 17 community leaders since the agreement was signed in November and thousands of people newly displaced.65 With a cumulative figure of 7.2 million IDPs, Colombia has the largest displaced population in the world, but this is likely to be an overestimate. Another 340,000 Colombians are living as refugees or in a refugee-like situation abroad.66 Around 78 per cent of all IDPs in Colombia live in 282 of the country’s 1,122 municipalities, with SPOT LIGHT large numbers in major cities such as Bogotá and Cali and their surroundings.67 As many as 80 per cent live below the poverty line, including between 33 and 35 per cent who live in extreme poverty.68 Indigenous and African-Colombian communities have long been disproportionately affected. The two groups together made up 74 per cent of IDPs involved in mass displacement events – events in which at least 10 families or 50 people are displaced – between January 2014 and August 2016.69 They also accounted for 6.7 per cent and 14.5 per cent of all registered displacements in 2016, but represent only 3.4 per cent and 10.6 per cent of the total population.70 Colombia’s IDPs continue to face substantial obstacles in their pursuit of durable solutions. A recent report notes the following reasons for the protracted nature of their displacement: Internally displaced sisters walk hand-inhand in the small village of Caimito, Cauca. Photo: NRC/Ingrid Prestetun, 2016 ON THE GRID: Global internal displacement in 2016 29