Colombia continues to face a multidimensional yet growing humanitarian crisis driven by the reconfiguration of conflict, climate change-related disasters, and the needs of refugee and migrant populations. Rural, ethnic, refugee, and migrant communities remain disproportionately affected.
The fragmentation of non-State armed group and their efforts to expand territorial and social control have intensified violence against civilians. Approximately 78 per cent of the rural population (9.9 million people) live under the influence of at least one non-State armed group. In 2025, 1.5 million people were affected by conflict and violence—three times more than in the same period of 2024.
Grave violations against children have increased for the fifth consecutive year, with forced recruitment and use of children and adolescents—especially among Indigenous and Afro-descendant groups—eroding community resilience. Rising incidents involving explosive devices and drone-deployed munitions have further heightened civilian risks.
In 2026, 10.4 million people in Colombia are projected to need humanitarian assistance — 6.9 million under the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan and 3.5 million under the Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan — a 30 per cent increase in severe needs compared to 2025. This rise stems from the overlapping impacts of conflict, climate shocks, and migration, as failed peace efforts and the expansion of non-State armed groups drive displacement, confinement, and social control, while recurrent disasters worsen conditions in already vulnerable areas.
By 2025, more than 1.3 million people faced humanitarian access constraints, reflecting the deterioration of protection and international humanitarian law compliance in areas with limited state presence. Alarmingly, by September 2025, 403 incidents against medical missions were recorded—the highest figure in nearly three decades. Women and girls have been disproportionately affected by the conflict. Between 2021 and 2025, over 6,000 cases of sexual violence were reported, 90 per cent involving women and girls. Non-State armed groups have increased the recruitment and exploitation of girls, while restrictions on health services and reproductive rights continue to put women’s lives at risk.
Source: OCHA, 2026
What are the development challenges in Colombia?
Colombia’s considerable reliance on oil revenues, relatively high poverty and inequality levels, high exposure to natural disaster risk, and a relatively complex political economy represent major challenges to making the Government’s fiscal framework sustainable. At the same time, sustaining growth in the longer run needs smart investments in infrastructure, health, and education without risking fiscal and debt sustainability.
Colombia faces significant social and geographic inequalities, including in human capital. To tackle poverty and stimulate prosperity more equally across all regions, it is crucial to foster more efficient and inclusive labour markets, reform the social security system and the intergovernmental fiscal transfer system, and strengthen subnational government capacity to ensure widespread access to quality public services.
