World Jewish Relief helps victims of devastating earthquake in Colombia

As well as those known to have died, more than 400 people remain missing, and nearly 5,000 have been injured. Nearly 30,000 homes were destroyed with over 130,000 more sustaining some kind of damage.

WJR has released £20,000 from its disaster fund to enable it to support an emergency response delivered by their humanitarian partner Cadena, an international Jewish humanitarian NGO that responds to natural disasters, emergencies, and humanitarian crises across Latin America and beyond.

Their assistance is providing displaced people with clean water, healthcare, medicine, and psychosocial support.

Rubble post-earthquake (credit: Cadena)[Missing Credit]

WJR says that its response will prioritise displaced people, communities with disrupted health services, and underserved rural and low-income areas, including Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities.

Among the Jewish community in Colombia, Cadena’s preliminary assessment reported that more than 20 Jewish families have been displaced by the earthquake. Both synagogues in Cali have also sustained significant damage.

“Our thoughts are with everyone who has lost loved ones, homes, and livelihoods in this terrible disaster,” said Paul Anticoni, CEO of WJR.

“The scale of destruction is immense, and we know that the situation is rapidly evolving. As the Jewish community’s response to crisis, we are committed to providing a lifeline to those who need us most.”

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, the Israeli government also offered to send humanitarian assistance and rescue workers to Colombia, a sign of the two countries’ strengthening relationship.

The earthquake in Colombia follows two of similar magnitude in neighbouring Venezuela in June, for which WJR and Cadena also contributed to the aid efforts. Local reports say the quakes claimed more than 6,000 lives.

To support the response in Colombia, donate to World Jewish Relief’s disaster fund by visiting: worldjewishrelief.org/disaster-fund/ or click here.