The National Liberation Army (ELN), the largest remaining non-state armed group (NSAG) in Colombia, has announced a unilateral ceasefire for the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays as a "gesture of peace". In an official statement on Sunday, the ELN said the ceasefire would begin at midnight on December 23 and end at midnight on January 3.
According to the statement, the ELN has instructed all its units not to carry out offensive military operations against the Colombian armed forces. Colombian President Gustavo Petro responded to the rebel group's message on an official social media page, saying: "The end of the war is the national objective for 2025."
Analysts say that although Petro has not been able to reach a lasting agreement with the remaining armed groups, his willingness to engage with them rather than wage all-out war against them has helped to reduce the level of violence in the country.
The ELN rebel group is the country's main remaining guerrilla organization. The Colombian government and the ELN reached an agreement to resume peace talks in November 2022. The United Nations praised the decision and urged both parties to seize the opportunity to end a deadly conflict whose resolution is crucial to broadening the scope of peace in Colombia.
On June 9, 2023, the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army signed a six-month ceasefire during talks in Cuba. The ceasefire was fully implemented on August 3 that year. The United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia (UNVIC) monitored and verified the implementation of the bilateral ceasefire agreement.
The six-month ceasefire followed ten months of negotiations and marked a major step forward in the ongoing peace process. The ceasefire was intended to help improve the humanitarian situation in conflict-affected areas. The developments renewed hopes for a comprehensive peace in Colombia.
In February this year, the government and the ELN extended last year's bilateral ceasefire by six months. The year-long ceasefire lasted from August 2023 to August 2024; in August 2024, the ELN resumed attacks against security forces and key infrastructure.
Colombia faces one of the worst internal displacement situations in the world, linked to six decades of conflict and violence. At the end of 2023, there were 6.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), making Colombia one of the countries with the highest number of IDPs in the world.
It is estimated that the number of newly displaced people will exceed 260,000 in 2024. The number of people trapped in confinement also continues to rise. Between January and October 2024, more than 100,000 people living in remote areas were confined by NSAGs, compared to 65,000 in the same period in 2023.
The government and the former rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a peace agreement in November 2016, which was a significant development and raised hopes for durable solutions for the country's IDPs.
However, eight years after the signing of the peace accord, the humanitarian situation in Colombia is still characterised by large-scale internal displacement and insecurity due to armed violence, perpetuated by widespread illicit drug production and trafficking, and rooted in territorial control by non-state armed groups that continue to operate in the country.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 9.3 million people are affected by the presence of non-state armed actors, including the ELN, FARC dissidents, paramilitary successor groups and drug trafficking gangs. Civilians in different parts of Colombia suffer serious human rights violations at the hands of these armed groups.
In the shadow of the FARC and the Colombian government's peace agreement, other irregular armed groups stepped up their activities, particularly in rural areas. These armed groups compete for territorial control and illegal economies in areas previously controlled by the FARC. Violent clashes between the new armed groups are causing most of the new humanitarian needs.
Colombia also continues to struggle with the effects of climate shocks. More than 1.2 million people in the country have already been affected this year by the El Niño phenomenon, which has fuelled forest fires and led to water shortages in almost all regions of the country.
In 2024, Colombia has experienced a significant increase in natural disasters, adding to an already complex humanitarian situation caused by armed conflict and mixed movements of refugees, internally displaced people and migrants. Adverse weather events, exacerbated by climate change, have disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable communities, including those already affected by conflict and mixed migration.
The country is highly susceptible to a range of natural hazards, particularly floods and landslides, which displace thousands of people every year. Indigenous, Afro-Colombian and farming communities have been particularly affected this year, according to the UN.
In 2024, some 8.3 million people - out of a population of 52 million - were in need of life-saving and life-sustaining humanitarian assistance and protection. To date, only 56 percent of the US$332 million requested for the Colombia 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) has been funded.
According to the latest UN estimates, some 9.1 million people will be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2025, as humanitarian and protection needs in Colombia have increased due to ongoing armed conflict, climate-related disasters and the growing influx of refugees and migrants.
Colombia is the country most affected by the Venezuelan crisis, hosting some 2.9 million of the 7.7 million Venezuelans who have sought refuge outside their country. The South American country is home to the third largest number of people in need of international protection in the world, after Turkey and Iran, and is experiencing one of the most neglected displacement crises in the world.