UNITED NATIONS, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The number of people in Colombia affected by violent clashes and needing aid has risen to 7.7 million, UN humanitarians said on Thursday.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 40 percent of those needing relief last year came from the indigenous community. They are only 4 percent of the total population of about 52 million.
The humanitarian office said more than 25,000 people from the Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities were newly displaced or forcibly confined due to violence since the beginning of this year.
The government and OCHA earlier this month launched a 283-million-U.S.-dollar humanitarian response plan to reach 1.6 million people, primarily women, children, people with disabilities, and indigenous people. ■
