Conflict cuts off essential care for thousands in Colombia

Rural areas are particularly affected

In February, MSF teams launched an emergency response in rural areas of the northeastern region of Catatumbo, where in January more than 50,000 people were forced from their homes by hostilities in the largest sudden population displacement in decades. Many of those who remain now face movement restrictions. In March, we started a project in the department of Arauca, near Colombia’s border with Venezuela. 

“We are deeply concerned about the impact that the escalating conflict in Colombia is having on tens of thousands of people in several regions of the country,” says Francisco Otero, MSF general coordinator in Colombia. “Our teams are providing essential medical and humanitarian assistance to isolated and vulnerable communities in areas that are very difficult to access for humanitarian organizations and where there is little presence of the state.”

Emergency in Catatumbo

In mid-January, the breakdown of a non-aggression pact between two non-state armed groups triggered an escalation of violence that has killed at least 98 people and affected an additional 77,000, including displaced and confined people, according to state authorities. The Colombian armed forces have also launched several offensives against these groups. 

MSF teams are operating mobile clinics in rural areas where there are restrictions on movement that prevent people from leaving to search for resources and services, and official entities and other humanitarian organizations from entering. MSF is one of the few organizations granted access by the parties to the conflict to areas widely affected by these restrictions. 

Between February 10 and March 15, MSF provided nearly 1,200 medical consultations in rural areas of Ábrego, Teorama, and Tibú, including 933 for primary health care and 112 for mental health. Additionally, 472 people benefited from group mental health activities. 

“We see a deterioration in the health of the population, from children with symptoms of malnutrition to patients with chronic conditions such as hypertension or diabetes, whose treatment has been interrupted,” explains Dr. Altair Saavedra, MSF medical coordinator in Colombia. 

“Most of the pregnant women we saw in consultations had not started prenatal checkups, regardless of their gestational age, and some patients have shown severe psychological symptoms caused by uncertainty about the development of the conflict.” In addition, in the areas visited by MSF, at least four primary health care centers have closed or suspended activities due to the violence. 

A new project in Arauca

Several non-state armed groups are fighting to control territory in the Arauca region. MSF began a long-term project the first week of March that will focus on people who face severe constraints in accessing health care: Venezuelan migrants, Colombian returnees and displaced people; vulnerable Indigenous groups in urban areas; and rural communities affected by the conflict.

“We will offer services for sexual and reproductive health, comprehensive care for survivors of sexual violence, mental health consultations, and strengthening the technical capacity of health personnel,” says Alejandro Matos, MSF coordinator in Arauca. “We will also carry out water and sanitation activities.”

Between March 3 and 14, MSF provided 281 medical consultations and 30 individual mental health consultations, and 116 people participated in group mental health sessions in the settlements of Jerusalem, Brisas del Puente, and Clarinetero, in the town of Arauca, the region’s capital.

Displacement is skyrocketing across Colombia

Seven decades of conflict have made Colombia one of the countries with the highest number of internally displaced people in the world, with nearly 9 million displaced, according to state figures. During the last decade, the number people displaced by violence never surpassed 70,000, but in 2024 the country registered 160,000 displaced people, according to authorities. This is the highest annual figure since the signing of a peace agreement between the government and the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016.

Despite an ongoing negotiation process between the government and several non-state armed groups, the Colombian ombudsman's office has indicated there are 11 humanitarian emergency hotspots, especially in regions along the Pacific and the Venezuelan border. 

“As an organization that guides our action under the principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence, we call on the parties to the conflict to provide safe access to areas hit by violence where there are unmet humanitarian needs,” says Otero.

Aid cuts mean an uncertain future

Colombia has been the largest recipient of USAID funds in Latin America. In 2024, the United States provided nearly 68 percent of the resources for the humanitarian response managed by aid workers in the country, but in 2025 this year dozens of NGOs and UN agencies have already been impacted by funding cuts. In the health sector alone, more than 183,000 people lost access to assistance, and 683,000 others are at risk of being affected, according to the World Health Organization.

"Amid the exacerbation of needs, we urge state entities and other humanitarian organizations to reach out to communities where access to basic services such as health care has been impacted, and we urge the parties to the conflict to protect medical facilities and humanitarian workers from violence," Otero says.