Society's most vulnerable: this little girl was forced with her family to leave their home in the rural areas of Colombia and flee to the slums of Bogota to find safety. A peace deal between the Farc and the government would mean that one day they can return home.Farc’s (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) new leader, Rodrigo Londono, has made an offer for peace talks at a “hypothetical negotiating table”, which was subsequently rejected by Colombia’s President Santos. The President stated that the country needs “clear acts of peace” before it will negotiate with the Farc.

The left-wing Farc rebels, who have been responsible for murder, kidnappings and drug trafficking in Colombia since the 1960s, have suffered a number of setbacks at the hands of the Colombian government in recent years. Last November, their then-leader Alfonso Cano was killed by state security forces, along with a number of fighters.

The last ceasefire between Farc and the Colombian government ended in 2002, when Farc hijacked a plane. President Santos has stated that new talks cannot begin before Farc release all hostages and end attacks in the country.

Despite massive anti-Farc demonstrations across Colombia last December, Farc still hold sway in many rural areas, in part due to revenues raised from cocaine production and trafficking. They illustrated the threat they still pose on Saturday, attacking and destroying a radar installation in southern Cauca region. This attack resulted in the death of one policeman and disruption of aviation across large areas of Colombia.

IRT supports a community development organisation in Colombia’s capital, Bogota. This organisation works with internally displaced people (IDPs) who had to flee the country side due to the continuing unrest, teaching them skills such as breadmaking and IT.

Read more about IRT's projects in Colombia.