Aid Agencies Scale Up Assistance for Venezuelans in Colombia as Regional Migration Crisis Deepens

13 January 2020

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA – Four leading aid organizations are scaling up operations to assist Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Colombia as the number of Venezuelans displaced in the region passes 4.8 million. With funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Save the Children and World Vision will reach nearly 90,000 people over 15 months with emergency cash assistance across eight departments of Colombia where Venezuelan migrants have settled.

The new program represents the largest one-program aid investment by the United States Government to respond to the growing Venezuelan humanitarian and migration crisis in Colombia, which has received 1.6 million Venezuelans. The program will support Venezuelan migrants and refugees, returning Colombians and vulnerable Colombians in communities facing the strain of migration with flexible cash and nutrition support in the departments of Antioquia, Arauca, Atlantico, Bogota DC, Cesar, La Guajira, Norte de Santander and Valle del Cauca.

By the end of 2020, it is expected that Venezuelan migrants and refugees will surpass the Syrian refugee crisis, with upwards of 5.5 million Venezuelans expected to be displaced regionally. Colombia predicts that by 2021 it may host over 4 million Venezuelans.

The International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Save the Children and World Vision have been helping Venezuelan migrants and refugees throughout Colombia since 2018, providing humanitarian assistance including cash, food, medicine and shelter.

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Media Contacts

Lynn Hector
Media and Communications Manager, Mercy Corps
lhector@mercycorps.org

Hope Arcuri
Communications Manager, Latin America Lead, International Rescue Committee
hope.arcuri@rescue.org

Mishelle Mitchell
Regional Director Communications, World Vision International
Mishelle_Mitchell@wvi.org

Luz Alcira Granada
National Director of Advocacy, Campaigns, CRG and Communications, Save the Children - Colombia
Luz.granada@savethechildren.org