Colombia has entered its fifth decade of violent conflict. Internal displacement has reached unprecedented levels, with over three million displaced since 1995. Massacres, executions, intimidation and the massive consequent fear have become an inescapable part of everyday life for Colombians living in conflict affected areas. The homicide rate for males between the ages of 15 and 44 stands at a startling 221 per 100,000. And violence is now also the leading cause of death for women between 15 and 39 years old (17 per 100,000) overtaking complications from pregnancy and childbirth. That said, the human suffering caused by the Colombian conflict goes well beyond statistics and medical data. The stories of Colombians — patients, health workers, and community members — portray a cycle of violence and displacement without end: forced displacement from rural areas to violent urban slums, and then return to the very same conditions that caused them to flee in the first place.

From: Living in Fear, Colombia's Cycle of Violence published by Medecins Sans Frontieres in 2006