Deadline: 18-May-2026
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is funding a large-scale child protection programme in conflict-affected areas of Colombia with an indicative budget of COP 2.85 billion. The initiative strengthens community-based organizations to prevent violence, improve psychosocial support, and enhance child protection systems, with a focus on women-led, youth-led, and ethnic groups.
Overview of the Programme
This UNICEF initiative aims to strengthen community-based child protection systems in conflict-affected regions of Colombia. It focuses on building the capacity of local organizations to respond to protection risks affecting children, adolescents, and families.
The programme prioritizes inclusive participation and resilience-building in areas affected by armed conflict, ensuring that vulnerable populations have access to essential protection and support services.
Geographic Coverage
The programme is implemented in selected departments of Colombia, including:
- Nariño
- Cauca
- Norte de Santander
- Arauca
- Chocó
These regions are significantly affected by armed conflict and require strengthened child protection and community resilience systems.
Key Focus Areas
The programme addresses a wide range of child protection and emergency response priorities.
Key focus areas include:
- Child protection in conflict and emergency settings
- Prevention and response to gender-based violence (GBV)
- Mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS)
- Strengthening community-based protection systems
- Adolescent participation and engagement
- Early risk identification and prevention mechanisms
- Safeguarding systems and child protection standards
- Referral pathways for protection and health services
- Accountability and reporting mechanisms
- Community resilience strengthening
- Capacity building of community-based organizations
Programme Objectives
The initiative is designed to improve protection systems and strengthen local organizations.
Key objectives include:
- Enhancing capacity of community-based organizations (CBOs)
- Strengthening child protection services in conflict-affected areas
- Ensuring access to psychosocial and mental health support
- Improving prevention and response to GBV risks
- Strengthening safeguarding and accountability systems
- Promoting adolescent participation in protection initiatives
- Building sustainable community protection mechanisms
Capacity Assessment and Organizational Strengthening
A core component of the programme is the systematic strengthening of local organizations.
Key activities include:
- Mapping community-based organizations in target areas
- Assessing technical, operational, and leadership capacity
- Developing standardized selection criteria for participation
- Establishing baseline organizational capacity assessments
- Identifying capacity gaps and training needs
- Supporting organizational development planning
Community Protection Actions
The programme supports locally led initiatives to address child protection risks.
Examples of community actions include:
- Child protection awareness campaigns
- Creation of safe spaces for adolescents
- Early warning and risk identification systems
- Strengthening referral pathways for protection services
- Community-led GBV prevention initiatives
- Encouraging adolescent participation in decision-making
Capacity Building and Training
Selected organizations receive structured technical support to improve service delivery.
Training areas include:
- Child protection standards and frameworks
- Violence prevention and response strategies
- Gender-based violence prevention and response
- Safeguarding mechanisms and child safety policies
- Referral system management
- Accountability and reporting systems
- Organizational management and leadership development
- Peer learning and knowledge exchange
Monitoring, Support, and Adaptation
Continuous technical assistance is a key feature of implementation.
Support mechanisms include:
- Field visits and on-site mentoring
- Simplified monitoring tools
- Structured follow-up and progress tracking
- Adaptive programming based on local needs
- Strengthening accountability systems
- Real-time problem-solving support for organizations
Funding and Budget
The programme provides substantial financial support for implementation.
- Indicative total budget: COP 2,850,000,000
- Focus: Community-based child protection system strengthening
- Funding supports capacity building, service delivery, and community interventions
- Implementation in conflict-affected areas over the programme period
Target Groups
The initiative prioritizes vulnerable and marginalized populations.
Primary beneficiaries include:
- Children in conflict-affected communities
- Adolescents and youth
- Caregivers and families
- Women-led organizations
- Youth-led organizations
- Ethnic and indigenous community groups
Monitoring and Performance Indicators
Programme progress is measured through specific protection and capacity indicators.
Key indicators include:
- Access to psychosocial support services
- Availability of gender-based violence services
- Functionality of child protection systems
- Implementation of community prevention activities
- Strength of accountability and safeguarding mechanisms
- Completion of capacity-building milestones by organizations
Importance of the Programme
This UNICEF initiative plays a critical role in:
- Strengthening child protection systems in conflict zones
- Improving access to mental health and psychosocial services
- Reducing vulnerability to violence and exploitation
- Empowering local and community-based organizations
- Enhancing resilience in fragile environments
- Promoting inclusive participation of youth and ethnic groups
Conclusion
The UNICEF Colombia child protection programme is a large-scale initiative aimed at strengthening community-based protection systems in conflict-affected regions. By investing in local organizations, psychosocial support services, and prevention mechanisms, it enhances child safety, builds community resilience, and improves protection outcomes for vulnerable children and adolescents.
For more information, visit UN Partner Portal.
