Children in Colombia’s Largest Informal Settlement Face rising Abuse and Exploitation as Aid Dries Up – Save the Children

BOGOTA, 20 May – Children in Colombia’s largest informal settlement are facing rising levels of abuse including sexual exploitation and forced labour, after U.S. aid cuts wiped out nearly all humanitarian services in the area this year, Save the Children said.  

The camp, located in Colombia’s northern La Guajira region, is home to more than 9,000 people—many of them migrants from neighbouring countries and members of the Wayuu Indigenous community. It relied heavily on international aid for food, health care and child protection activities before nearly 90% of programmes were suspended this year due to U.S. funding cuts. 

Today, only three of the 28 humanitarian organisations that worked in the camp remain active in the settlement, leaving families without critical support and children increasingly vulnerable to exploitation and harm.  

With services vanishing, Save the Children is hearing reports of an increasing number of children being pushed into desperate measures to survive, with some delivering water by donkey in extreme heat, while others are begging on the streets, or scavenging for recyclables they can sell. Others are engaging in sexual abuse and exploitation in exchange for money or food to help feed their families. 

While hunger and child labour have long plagued the settlement, Juleima, 54, a community leader in the camp, said child labour is now more visible than ever: 

“Child labour is more visible now. Before, children who went to school in the morning spent their afternoons in recreational tents—with music, dance, or safe spaces to learn and have a snack. Now that those spaces are gone, they have nowhere to go. You see children begging or selling water downtown. I’ve even heard some are being used to sell drugs. 

“Children begging in the city face serious dangers—they could be hit by a motorcycle, kidnapped, or exploited. There have even been reports of children disappearing, with fears they were taken for organ trafficking. That’s the level of risk they face outside the settlement. And if they’re caught doing something illegal, they or their families could suffer. Some have even ended up in youth reformatories. There are many consequences.”  

Save the Children is one of the 25 organisations forced to terminate programmes in the settlement due to aid cuts. The child rights organisation now maintains a limited mobile presence, providing access to health care, malnutrition screening, snacks, and recreational activities on a monthly basis. 

María Mercedes Liévano, Save the Children's Country Director in Colombia, said: 
“What we are witnessing here is a crisis within a crisis. Children are risking their lives just to survive—because aid that once kept them safe has vanished almost overnight. Humanitarian aid was a lifeline for thousands of families in La Guajira. With nearly 90% of programmes shut down in the informal settlement, families are being pushed past their breaking point. No child should have to beg, face abuse or be put at risk of recruitment or kidnapping just to get food. 

“We need urgent funding to keep children alive, protected, and with their families. Until the amount of funding that was cut is fully restored for aid, parents will continue to face impossible choices, and children will pay the price.” 

This year, about 13 million people in Colombia, including more than 4 million children, will require humanitarian assistance. Yet, only 14% of the UN’s humanitarian response plan for Colombia has been funded so far this year, leaving countless families without the support they desperately need. 

U.S. foreign aid accounted for about 70% of Colombia’s humanitarian funding in 2024. With those funds cut, Save the Children has had to halt protection services and cash assistance for 30,000 people, including 16,000 children, in Colombia. Many now face increased risks of forced recruitment, school dropout, gender-based violence, and exploitation. 

Save the Children has worked in Colombia for more than 40 years. The child rights organisation provides children with access to education, healthcare and nutritional support, and families with food security and livelihoods assistance.   

ENDS