UN relief official meets Colombian President on humanitarian situation

A senior United Nations relief official was to meet today with President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia for talks on the country's humanitarian situation, the worst in the Western Hemisphere, with an estimated 3 million people uprooted from their homes by conflict over the past 10 years.

In the third day of a five-day official visit, Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, held meetings in the capital Bogotá with the UN country team, representatives of civil society and donors.

He was to visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this afternoon and meet President Uribe.

During his trip, Mr. Egeland is visiting internally displaced persons. He has called for more effort to help displaced people, adding that the international community must look for solutions to the crisis.