UN UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS VISITS COLOMBIA

UN UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS VISITS COLOMBIA

BOGOTA, 5 May (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) -- Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, begins an official visit to Colombia today.

During his mission to Colombia, Mr. Egeland will meet with President Uribe, the Ministers of the Interior and Foreign Relations, Cardinal Rubiano, the High Commissioner for Peace, the Procurator General, the Ombudsman of the Government of Colombia, diplomatic representatives and representatives of the civil society, and with the heads of the United Nations system in Colombia.

During his visit, Mr. Egeland will call attention to this country's humanitarian crisis, the gravest in the Western hemisphere.  He will also look at ways to improve the response to the humanitarian situation at both the national and international level.   Mr. Egeland will give special attention to communities that are victims of the internal conflict.

Jan Egeland has 25 years of experience in humanitarian affairs and human rights through the United Nations, the Norwegian Government, the Red Cross, the Red Crescent Movement and other non-governmental and academic institutions.  From 1999 until 2002, he was the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Colombia.

Mr. Egeland will visit internally displaced persons (IDPs) and victims of the conflict in Cartagena, Soacha and in the south of Bogotá.  Currently, there are an estimated 2 million IDPs in the country.

For further information, please call:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHA New York, tel.: 917 367 5126, mobile: 917 892 1679; or Elizabeth Byrs, OCHA Geneva, tel.:  41 22 917 2653, mobile: 41(0) 79 473 4570.

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