<<previous | index | next>> II. RecommendationsHumanitarian AssistanceThe Social Solidarity Network should ensure that displaced families receive emergency humanitarian aid without delay to provide for their immediate needs while they are completing the formal process of registering as displaced persons. EducationThe Ministry of Education should ensure that all children enjoy their right to a free primary education, as guaranteed by international law. In particular, it should work with appropriate enforcement officials to sanction schools that illegally levy matriculation fees, voluntary monthly assessments, or other fees, as well as those that turn away students who do not have identification, who lack uniforms, or who are older than the target age for their grades. It should also work with the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, and donor governments to identify ways to prevent indirect costs of schooling, such as the cost of school supplies and transport, from becoming a barrier to the enjoyment of the right to education, particularly for children who are internally displaced. Health NeedsThe Ministry of Health should ensure that hospitals and clinics are aware of their obligation to provide all persons with emergency care. It should establish a referral and complaint mechanism to assist people in locating health facilities and in registering complaints, if necessary. It should work with appropriate enforcement officials to sanction facilities that turn away people from the emergency care to which they are entitled as a matter of law. Colombian authorities should take the following additional steps to ensure the right to the highest attainable standard of health:
International donors should extend funding for health initiatives for displaced persons. Returns to Home CommunitiesThe government of Colombia should ensure that any returns of displaced persons to their home communities are voluntary and in conditions of safety and dignity. Donor governments should stop funding government programs that encourage returns that are not voluntary and in conditions of safety and dignity, as required by international standards. In particular, the U.S. Agency for International Developments Internally Displaced Persons Program and the projects it funds should not support government initiatives that do not comply with international standards relating to returns.
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