This past January a policy directive of Colombian President Uribe outlined the National Plan for the Consolidation of Territory (Plan Nacional de Consolidación Territorial). The short, assertive and results-oriented memo instructed Colombian national, local, military and civilian authorities to work together to attain a stronger grip over strategic swaths of land, recovered from guerrilla control, within a period of 18 months. Two objectives of the strategy include an increase in confidence by Colombian citizens towards their own government and the reassurance to investors about their economic interests.

For almost 5 years, I have been following the challenges facing millions of forcibly displaced Colombians. They have been forced to abandon their homes because of violence, conflict between illegal armed groups and national army counterinsurgency and counternarcotics operations.

A few weeks ago, I traveled to Ecuador and Venezuela to assess the conditions of Colombian refugees. And in one interview after the other, the accounts were both disturbing and similar to those I’ve heard from internally displaced people in Colombia.

It is always amazing to encounter reactions of surprise from my colleagues when I talk about the enormous number of Colombians that fled their homes and land so that they could save their lives. The overwhelming stereotype that confines Colombia to being the biggest producer and exporter of cocaine in the world often obscures the daily reality that the average Colombian has to face.

I was in Juba, South Sudan, at the end of February after three long and intense weeks to examine the reintegration of refugees who are returning home, when an astonishing article from the Colombian paper El Tiempo popped up in my email inbox.

Forced displacement in Colombia caused by armed conflict between leftist rebel groups, paramilitary narco-criminal gangs and the Colombian armed forces continues to be a serious tragedy for hundreds of thousands of Colombian citizens.

As I sit here on the eve of the U.S. elections, I can recall only one exchange of opinions on Colombia between the Presidential candidates.

Where will you be the night of April 14, 2008?

This question has taken on great significance for millions of Sudanese people. On a recent mission to south Sudan, I became aware of how important it is to ensure that people’s votes will be counted in the long-awaited Sudanese population census, which is expected to take place April 15 - 30.

The work we do at Refugees International brings us to witness protracted humanitarian situations where the forcibly displaced struggle to survive or to restart their lives when they can finally return home. We visit and interview many individuals trying to alleviate suffering, often working in difficult environments and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the needs they are supposed to respond to. The context in which they operate is very complex and it is not always easy to make the right policy decision.

Today is the third anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. This peace agreement succeeded in bringing a halt to hostilities after more than two decades of civil war between south Sudanese rebels and the northern government in Khartoum.