New Zealand
Colombia
The Situation
For over 50 years, internal armed conflict has taken a huge toll on a country with one of the highest levels of income inequality in Latin America. During the last fifteen years, more than three million people, 83 per cent of whom are children and women, have been forced to flee from their homes to safer areas. Approximately 14,000 boys and girls have been recruited by illegal armed groups, further fuelling the conflict.
Save the Children has been working with Colombian partner organizations and local and national governments since 1991 to improve access and quality of education for vulnerable children, youth and their families.
Our Target
Save the Children, along with our partners, will support the Colombian government as it works to:
- Provide child-centred teacher training to make education more relevant.
- Increase the number of alternative educational programmes
- Provide a quality education to displaced children
Jiffer's blog »
Our direct work with partners and local governments will ensure that more than 2,000 children affected by forced displacement and conflict gain access to basic education, and that more than 600,000 boys and girls will benefit from more relevant education.We will also work with children to inform and educate them about the risks and dangers of abuse and violence so that they can learn to identify when their right to life and freedom from violence are threatened.
Save the Children is committed to raising more than 6.8 million dollars to help children and youth in Colombia.
How Colombia measures up
- Only 24 per cent of teachers meet the required professional standards for teaching
- Only 34.1 per cent of the school-age population receives an education that meets
government quality norms - Government expenditure on education decreased between 2002 and 2004
- 22.6% of boys and girls between 5 and 17 years who should be registered in school did not enter an educational institution
