After months of hardship and fear, life took a turn for the better for 11 families of the Wounaan community. In a landmark step by the national authorities, they became the first group of Colombian indigenous people ever to be granted refugee status in Panama.

One of the first priorities was to provide the settlement with clean water. There's plenty of water in the Darién jungle's swamps and many rivers, but its remote communities lack even the most basic infrastructure to make it safe to drink.

This was done with the help of the UNHCR and the international community, among them the humanitarian aid department of the European Commission.

The two organizations have also set up a clean water system in the community of Alto Playona, home to another Colombian indigenous group, 66 Emberá people who reached the settlement after months of wandering to escape an irregular armed group in Colombia. These refugees have not yet been granted a refugee status.

Source: Marie-Hélène Verney, UNHCR, 26 Dec 2007