Situation

As COVID-19 continued to spread in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Ministries of Education progressively closed schools that had reopened or had plans to reopen. Refugee and migrant children from Venezuela faced particular challenges maintaining regular attendance in schools, either online or in-person, with absenteeism and the interruption of studies aggravated by worsened living conditions due to the pandemic. Causes included a lack of school supplies, such as uniforms, school meals, transportation, internet accessibility, and connectivity for mobile devices, as well as language barriers and xenophobia, discrimination, and lack of documentation.

Response

Partners focused on incorporating Venezuelan refugee and migrant children and adolescents into national educational systems and promoting their permanence in learning activities, including through in-kind aid and cash and voucher assistance (CVA), mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), support to teachers and public officials for capacity-building, and support to schools with supplies and improved infrastructure. Through these actions, 49% of the target population or a total of 284K people were assisted (46.36% girls; 42.48% boys; 4.72% women; and 6.44% men) including refugee and migrant children and adults and the host population.

R4V partners engaged in regional and national efforts to influence public policy to promote educational inclusion: working together with Ministries of Education, the enrolment of Venezuelan refugee and migrant children in the public education system in Colombia increased by 34% in 2021 compared to 2020, with 488,497 Venezuelan children enrolled; in Ecuador there was an increase of 56% in the enrolment of Venezuelan children in 2021; and in Peru, there was an increase of 18%. In the case of Trinidad and Tobago, meanwhile, where foreign children are still not allowed to enroll in public schools – despite advocacy by R4V – partners established alternative education programmes that instruction for refugees and migrants from Venezuela.

The Regional Education Sector promoted initiatives for the recognition and validation of studies in the framework of the Andres Bello Agreement including the implementation of the Equivalencies Table; strengthened mechanisms for monitoring the educational trajectories of children and adolescents in mobility situations together with Ministries of Education; and supported the development of an open data web platform for a regional monitoring framework for mobile students in LAC.

Lessons Learned

Lack of funding was again an important challenge for the sector, with only 14% of the 2021 plan  funded. Data to evaluate refugee and migrant children’s learning permanence and outcomes continues to be a challenge, a situation exacerbated by school closings as a result of the pandemic. An important lesson learned is the comprehensive intersectoral care strategies that promote the social protection and welfare of the families of refugee and migrant children with educational needs, in order to ensure better conditions for continued learning.

Situation

The COVID-19 pandemic is having long-lasting effects on food security and livelihoods in the Latin American and region, which has seen the highest relative increase of people in severe food insecurity, Many refugees and migrants from Venezuela (especially those in an irregular situation) are particularly dependent on the informal economy and face barriers accessing income-generating activities or social protection networks, resulting in an increasing inability to satisfy their essential needs.

According to needs carried out by RMRP partners in 2021, one out of four refugees and migrants either consumed only one meal a day or spent the previous day without eating. At least one in three refugees and migrants also reported having to skip meals or restrict consumption by adults so children could eat.

Response

In 2021, Food Security Sector partners assisted more than 1.5 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela and members of host communities across the region, reaching 92% of the target population of the sector, and were the largest providers of sectoral cash and voucher assistance (CVA). Partners also worked to improve food security in the long run by providing both agricultural and non-agricultural sustainable livelihoods opportunities to refugees and migrants .

Forms of support included in-kind food distribution through community kitchens and schools, as well as food packages for refugees and migrants in transit, and CVA distributed directly to beneficiaries and through national social protection systems. Ensuring that refugees and migrants from Venezuela are included in national social protection systems was a key priority.

The Food Security Sector at the regional level supported partners and host governments through the design and implementation of to leverage increasing internet coverage to collect real-time information on the food security situation of Venezuelan refugees and migrants in the region. These efforts contributed to greater programmatic harmonization through the adoption of common methodologies that produced comparable data across countries.

Lessons Learned

A regional support strategy facilitated the exchange of best practices and identification of common methodologies and approaches. The Regional Food Security Sector in key areas to promote programme harmonization across operations. These include common approaches to assessment, monitoring, targeting, beneficiary management, and identification and procurement of financial service providers.

For 2022, potential areas of improvement include:

• Include more disaggregation in needs assessments regarding the food security response, g. by ethnic groups, to improve the differential approach to food insecurity and linkages to longer-term integration.
• Enhance intersectoral work and communication, including with the Integration Sector on livelihoods and socio-economic integration, as well as with the Protection Sector on access to national social protection systems, to enhance the food security response based on community needs and participation.

Situation

Access to health care for refugees and migrants from Venezuela remains limited in many countries, mainly due to irregular status, low levels of health literacy, and limited service coverage as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lack of access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and supplies remains a concern, as it increases maternal and neonatal mortality and the risk of unintended pregnancies.

Nevertheless, some important progress was made in 2021 to expand access. In Colombia, for example, the inclusion of refugees and migrants in national insurance systems increased with the Temporary Protection Permit, with . The national public health insurance in Peru increased its coverage to over 100,000 affiliated Venezuelans in the first half of the year, and the Ministry of Health provided care to 41,777 refugees and migrants in 2021. Ecuador provided free antiretroviral treatment to people living with HIV, including 1,494 Venezuelan refugees and migrants Brazil continued to provide free access to its national healthcare system (SUS) to all refugees and migrants with a taxpayer registry number (CPF) issued upon arrival at the border. Meanwhile, vaccination against COVID-19 advanced across the region, with national immunization plans inclusive of refugees and migrants from Venezuela.

Response

In 2021, R4V Health Sector partners reached the second largest number of people of any sector in the response, with a total of 1,253,942 refugees, migrants and members of affected host communities (70% of the target population) receiving health assistance. To address gaps in access to essential health services, partners strengthened national health systems with equipment, supplies and personnel, and provided health assistance to refugees and migrants at all levels of care, with a special focus on people in vulnerable situations, including people living with HIV. Partners also supported with outreach and logistics for COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, and in some countries – in the Caribbean for example – made vaccines directly available to refugees and migrants in coordination with local Ministries of Health who administered vaccines in R4V partners’ offices, at information kiosks and in community fairs.

The delivery of SRH services, including life-saving SRH information, increased in 2021. For example, more than 10,000 women in Brazil received access to contraceptives and SRH. Health facilities throughout the region were strengthened with SRH equipment and supplies for the clinical management of rape (), emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) and family planning.

As a response to the increasing need for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) brought on by the pandemic, partners carried out psychological accompaniment, first aid and other services.

Capacity-building was also conducted on COVID-19 vaccination, health rights and protection of vulnerable groups, such as LGBTQI+ persons and people living with HIV, including with border security personnel in Panama, and in Chile, where 9,000 refugees, migrants and health workers received information about health rights and vaccination against COVID-19.

Lessons Learned

As one of the main difficulties to access health services remains the irregular status of many refugees and migrants, in 2022 partners will focus on supporting registration for health insurance where it is available, including in conjunction with regularization and documentation initiatives in countries such as Colombia. To address challenges associated with a lack of knowledge of existing services, partners will prioritize community-based interventions with the objective of providing up-to-date information to refugees and migrants regarding access to health services in countries across the region.

Situation

In 2021, movement restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic strongly impacted Humanitarian Transportation activities, as most international land borders remained closed and only re-opened starting in October 2021 (for example, in Colombia) while some were closed throughout the year (for example, in Peru). The closure of land borders resulted in a higher number of refugees and migrants from Venezuela entering countries irregularly through non-official border points, which was also reflected in an increase in the number of Venezuelans walking through transit routes due to a lack of ability to access or pay for other transportation options. Safety and security risks also increased during 2021, with a greater presence of smugglers in border areas, and exposure to GBV and human trafficking and smuggling for refugees and migrants, particularly those transiting on foot. In the case of the Bolivia-Chile border, for example, humanitarian actors were compelled to stop their activities at the end of the year due to insecurity.

Response

In 2021, 86,585 individuals received humanitarian transportation support (134% of the targeted population) in eight countries through the activities of 11 RMRP organizations and 33 implementing partners. Partners in Colombia surpassed their objective by three times, reaching 310% of the target population, and partners in Brazil reached 52% of their target, while partners in Peru reached 8% and in Chile 11% of their respective target populations The levels of support of host governments for humanitarian transportation initiatives were key to explaining these differences: in Colombia, the Migration and Border authorities promoted the piloting of humanitarian transportation initiatives for extremely vulnerable refugees and migrants, in coordination with the R4V country platform (GIFMM); in Brazil, RMRP partners coordinated with the government’s Operation Welcome programme to provide humanitarian transportation to internally relocate refugees and migrants from border areas to more than 600 reception cities; while in Peru and Chile, COVID-19 movement restrictions, international border closures and visa requirements for Venezuelans limited the number of refugees and migrants who could be assisted with humanitarian transportation. The main priority for R4V partners has been coordinating with the authorities to provide safe and dignified transportation for refugees and migrants, framing the interventions under the countries’ norms and regulations. Activities included border-to-border and internal transportation, which in countries like Brazil were the main activity, while in other operations, day-to-day transportation was provided for accessing basic services, regularization processes, and livelihoods opportunities.

Lessons Learned

In coordination with local and national authorities, strong reinforcement of these areas is a priority for the sector in 2022. The sector will also work to mainstream protection and PSEA in all activities, to reinforce the capacity of humanitarian workers to mitigate risk exposure for the affected population.

Situation

In 2021, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Peru all began or continued regularization processes for Venezuelans. Coupled with asylum procedures, these processes represented a significant step towards the sustainable socioeconomic integration of Venezuelan refugees and migrants, especially access to the formal labour market. At the same time, countries continued to experience the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many governments put in place economic recovery plans, an Integration Sector analytical report found that the majority of Venezuelan refugees and migrants were left out, mainly those in the informal sector. Venezuelan-owned enterprises or businesses that employed Venezuelan refugees and migrants continued to struggle: for example, in Trinidad and Tobago, about a third of small to medium-sized businesses remained closed in 2021, according to an R4V situation report.

Women and youth in particular lost employment and education prospects due to the pandemic. In Chile, 31% of Venezuelan women lost their jobs due to the pandemic, compared to 19% of Venezuelan men. In Peru, 70% of unemployed Venezuelans in Lima were women. A regional report indicated that youth were also particularly affected due to interruptions in their educational and professional trainings. The pandemic hit informal workers – who are disproportionately women, refugees and migrants – especially hard, by closing informal jobs and leaving even more vulnerable these workers who were already outside of social protection schemes.

Finally, 2021 saw instances of increasing xenophobia against Venezuelan refugees and migrants, including acts of xenophobic violence in the north of Chile, which inhibited local integration and peaceful coexistence.

Response

R4V partners’ integration priorities for 2021 included linking regularization and documentation processes with integration; increasing access to livelihood opportunities, especially for women and youth; and promoting social cohesion with host communities. 6,980 integration activities were implemented by 58 RMRP organizations and 130 implementing partners in 2021, reaching 36% of the targeted population in the region, out of whom 66% were women. Integration activities mainly included entrepreneurship support Integration activities were primarily implemented in Colombia, followed by Peru, Ecuador and Brazil.

At the regional level, the sector published a report on the inclusion of refugees and migrants in the socioeconomic policies of governments in response to the pandemic in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador Mexico, Panama and Peru. The report analysed policies, barriers to implementation and best practices related to regularization, social protection and employment, and provided recommendations to governments and stakeholders.

Lessons Learned

The main challenge was funding shortages: the integration sector only received 9% of the requested amount of dedicated funding. Integration initiatives are expensive, and during the pandemic, there was a substantial re-allocation of funds from integration activities towards humanitarian and cash interventions. RMRP partners tried to maintain their integration activities, but low financing meant decreasing the number of people reached. 

Situation

The nutrition situation of refugee and migrant children and women (and host communities) continues to be of concern, in particular acute malnutrition in children under age 5, which can result in death. According to data from Brazil, Colombia and Peru, cases of acute malnutrition in children under 5 are between 4.3 and 8.6% in s, while the prevalence of stunting (which reflects sustained nutritional deficiencies) in children under 5 ranges from 17 to 22% in Ecuador and Brazil. In Colombia, 4.8% of pregnant and lactating women from Venezuela were malnourished, creating risks for mothers and their infants.

The difficult situation faced by refugees and migrants due to the COVID-19 pandemic continues to result in limited access to health services, precarious WASH conditions, and limited access to diversified/nutritious food, all of which have deteriorated the nutritional status of the most vulnerable groups.

Response

The R4V Nutrition Sector focused on addressing the specific nutritional needs of vulnerable groups, according to age and condition, to prevent, identify and treat malnutrition, and improve survival. Target population groups included children (under age five and under age two) and pregnant and lactating women.

Main achievements included strengthening the capacities of health authorities to provide nutrition interventions through training (Guyana, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Colombia) and funding additional nutrition personnel (including indigenous health monitors) in government health units (Brazil); monitoring the nutrition status of children under 5 across borders (Colombia and Ecuador); and integrating nutrition interventions with other sectors (e.g. counseling on infant and young child feeding integrated with CVA in Trinidad and Tobago, Peru and Ecuador, and training caregivers in food preparation and healthy feeding coupled with food assistance in Brazil).

Main achievements at the regional level included organizing a webinar series on Nutrition in Emergencies in the context of COVID-19 and migration; organizing a high-level nutrition event as part of the 2021 Donor’s Conference and associated materials (factsheet, event recording, summary report, and Q&A); and publishing a R4V Nutrition Sector joint statement calling all R4V partners to protect, promote and support breastfeeding and avoid distribution of breast milk substitutes.

Lessons Learned

• Main challenges in the 2021 response included the lack of data on the nutrition situation of vulnerable groups, limiting recognition of the scope of nutritional problems faced by refugees and migrants; limited presence of actors with nutrition expertise, reducing the response’s reach; and difficulties with the implementation of nutrition interventions in . Critical lack of funding was a main challenge.
• To improve implementation in 2022, the sector will seek to 1) generate up-to-date information on the nutritional situation of vulnerable groups using standardized methodologies, like nutrition surveys, in addition to screening exercises 2) advocate for nutrition support to vulnerable groups in an emergency context, making visible their needs, risks, and gaps and the need to provide access to nutrition services, especially through local health services; and 3) conduct an analysis of capacities at the country level to manage acute malnutrition and identify areas for improvement

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Situation

In 2021, despite the extension of border closures and mobility restrictions, refugees and migrants from Venezuela in need of protection and assistance crossed borders both regularly and irregularly, with those in irregular transit particularly exposed to serious protection risks, including trafficking, disappearances, kidnappings, family separation and gender-based violence (GBV Access to territory was restricted in multiple countries. In some countries, detention, interception at sea and deportation increased, putting in danger the lives of Venezuelan refugees and migrants. In addition, onward movements of Venezuelans from Peru, Ecuador and Colombia towards Mexico and the United States registered a sharp rise.

Venezuelans in an irregular situation were significantly hindered in their access to rights and basic services. Asylum systems continued to be overstretched, with over 721,946 pending Venezuelan asylum claims across the region as of June 2021 Multiple governments in the region announced or initiated regularization initiatives to offer alternatives for documentation of the population.

Groups particularly impacted by protection risks in the region included indigenous persons, youth, evicted persons and sex workers or persons engaged in prostitution. Discrimination and acts of xenophobic violence were notably detected in 2021.

Response

Protection activities carried out in all 17 countries of the RMRP in 2021 – which provided assistance to a total of 852,266 refugees and migrants and vulnerable members of host communities – aimed to prevent, mitigate, and address protection risks, and advocate for access to rights and national protection systems for refugees and migrants.

Meanwhile, highlights of the Regional Protection Sector response included: a report prepared jointly with the Organization of American States (OAS) on the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on evicted persons, sex workers or persons in situation of prostitution, and indigenous peoples in Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Caribbean and Southern Cone; consultations on the situation of indigenous refugees and migrants in Brazil, Colombia, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, resulting in recommendations presented at a High-Level Forum to seven Special Rapporteurs from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the UN; a data visualization project which highlights the impact of COVID-19 on Venezuelan refugees and migrants who are faced with homelessness and eviction, with results from the regional survey on evictions and the toolkit launched in early 2021; and consultations carried out with national and sub-regional sectors and Venezuelan diaspora-led organizations, in order to feed into the RMRP 2022 process, including consultations with youth, indigenous peoples, LGBTQI+ and people living with HIV.

Lessons Learned

With the continuity of the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges included restrictions on public spaces and limitations on in-person delivery of protection services. In 2022 there will be a focus on strengthening case management procedures, referral mechanisms (including transborder) and protection analysis.

Limited funding affected the overall response, reducing activities such as protection monitoring, services linked to mental health support, legal assistance and representation, amongst others. The Regional Protection Sector in 2022 will explore additional avenues to support partners with fundraising.

For 2022, the Sector will continue to strengthen collaboration with other thematic sectors and working groups, especially as protection can contribute to prevent, mitigate and address threats and risks that Venezuelan refugees and migrants face in areas such as education, shelter, integration, humanitarian transportation, cash and voucher assistance and health services.

Situation and Response

During 2021, the Support Spaces initiative continued to expand in response to the increase of refugees and migrants from Venezuela at points of entry and in host communities across the region. A total of 206 Support Spaces were implemented in eight countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay.

COVID-19 restrictions were maintained or lifted to varying degrees in these countries, which implied maintaining remote modalities or partial in-person attention with limited capacity.

In line with the priority to update and adapt regional tools for implementation, the Support Spaces Toolkit and training resources were updated and adapted to respond to the needs identified in the field and to improve capacities. The revisions were conducted through consultation with the national and sub-regional platforms and other relevant regional stakeholders.

To improve the visibility of the Support Spaces structures to be recognizable to persons of interest along transit routes, work was coordinated with the national and sub-regional platforms. The Support Spaces became points of reference for community protection in Peru, through a series of assistance sessions that took place throughout Lima with the collaboration of the Support Spaces and community-based organizations, and in Colombia, they were spaces to receive information, orientation, and facilitation of regularization processes during the implementation of the Temporary Protection Status (TPS).

At the regional level, throughout 2021, the Support Spaces continued to collaborate with regional networks such as RIADIS, Red Clamor and the Regional Network for the Protection of LGBTQI+ Persons, among others. The Support Spaces also presented to the Quito Process through its thematic group on Guidance Centres/Support Spaces, to articulate efforts with governments and share good practices, and Member States approved the proposed Guiding Principles and Standards presented during the Lima Chapter, under Peru’s Presidency Pro Tempore.

The regional R4V service mapping tool was upgraded with new functionalities. More than 1,500 services within all sectors were updated and mapped in coordination with national and sub-regional platforms.

Lessons Learned

Following the update to the Safe Spaces Toolkit, its application will be strengthened by providing training to representatives from national and sub-regional platforms and through on-site visits to ensure the positioning of the initiative in the field.

Improving communication and coordination efforts will contribute to strengthening the network, which is one of the characteristics of the Support Spaces initiative. It is also necessary to enhance the community-based protection approach and accompany it with guiding tools from the regional level to promote its adaptation at the national and sub-regional platform levels.

Situation

In 2021, COVID-19 continued to complicate outreach to communities and refugees’ and migrants’ ability to access services. Studies by R4V partners indicated that the pandemic has further limited access by refugee and migrant children and their families to food, education and healthcare; that gender-based violence (GBV) was the most recurrent form of violence affecting Venezuelan refugee and migrant girls and adolescents in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, including sexual, physical and psychological violence and xenophobia; and that the decrease in income for Venezuelan families led to increased child labour, marriage or early unions, voluntary separation from parents and caregivers when they left the country, and recruitment by irregular armed groups. R4V partners engaged and coordinated efforts with host governmentss to identify and support unaccompanied and separated children (UASC), but adolescents traveling through uncontrolled points of entry and/or without documentation often prevented them from accessing services, such as vaccines.

Response

In 2021, Child Protection Sub-sector partners reached a total of 158,025 beneficiaries with assistance, including 71,743 girls and 66,687 boys, for a total of 138,430 children assisted; while 19,591 adults (12,326 women and 7,265 men) were supported through capacity-building activities. A total of 85 organizations (29 appealing partners and 56 implementing partners) were involved in carrying out 3,687 reported activities across 10 countries.

The Regional Child Protection Sub-sector contributed to strengthening partners’ capacities for the protection of refugee and migrant children and adolescents with virtual training spaces, including Clinical Patient Management Systems (CPMS) webinars with 665 participants from 21 countries in the region; providing an internal materials repository and trainings on child protection with a focus on UASCs and GBV survivors; and engaging in online capacity-building together with the GBV Sub-sector to train partners in providing remote psychosocial support for Venezuelan refugee and migrant adolescents who are survivors of GBV . The Subsector also engaged partners in studies spearheaded by the Protection Sector on double jeopardy and organized crime affecting Venezuelan refugee and migrant children and adolescents, and an analysis of the child labor situation in this same group of interest.

To promote advocacy actions for the protection of children in emergencies, within the Quito Process framework for a protocol / mechanism to establish regional guidelines, Child Protection Subsector partners designed a regional campaign on UASCs to be implemented in 2022.

Lessons Learned

Limited funding resulted in limitations in the ability to develop databases for refugee and migrant unaccompanied and separated children in the region, which are needed for public policies to provide specialized child protection services, family reunification, and regularization to UASC. Support for UASC continues to be a priority, and greater investment is needed to identify, negotiate and create mechanisms between countries to identify UASC and provide them with child protection services.

In 2022, digital platforms will continue to be used to strengthen partners’ capacities to protect children. Coordination with other sectors and sub-sectors will also remain a priority, to ensure child protection across all sectoral interventions of the R4V response.

Situation

The socio-economic effects of the pandemic, including loss of livelihoods and income, disproportionately impacted refugee and migrant women, exposing gender inequalities and increasing risks of gender-based violence (GBV). Refugees and migrants in situations of financial hardship found themselves homeless as a result of eviction or upon arrival to host countries: an R4V survey of Venezuelans at risk of eviction in 2021 in Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama and Peru found that women were disproportionally affected by evictions, with 79% of women interviewed at risk due to informal tenancy agreements.

Intimate partner violence and attacks on transgender women and sex workers / people in situations of prostitution were a concern. Adolescent girls reported to R4V partners that they were fearful of sexual assault and vulnerable to forced marriages, trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation. Against the backdrop of deportations of Venezuelans from countries in the Caribbean and Chile, ongoing border closures and travel restrictions, and discrimination and xenophobic violence, refugees and migrants were forced to spend nights in the streets and travel through irregular crossings, which made women and girls in particular more vulnerable to GBV, including rape, sexual assault, trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation and abuse. There were also reports of men and boys – including LGBTQI+ persons – affected by sexual exploitation.

Response

In 2021, GBV partners reached 84,437 refugees and migrants from Venezuela and members of host communities with activities in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama and Peru. This included direct support to survivors of GBV, as well as trainings of authorities responsible to identify and respond to GBV.

The Regional GBV Sub-sector provided support to partners, created a forum for strategic planning and to exchange good practices, and supported GBV service delivery at country level. For example, the regional sub-sector worked with partners in the Caribbean to craft service mappings, referral pathways and GBV Standard Operating Procedures. The regional sub-sector – in coordination with other sectors and working groups – rolled out technical guidance and delivered trainings to develop capacity. These included a guidance manual on the use of Multipurpose Cash Assistance to meet the needs of Venezuelan refugee and migrant GBV survivors in Ecuador; a training manual for non-GBV specialists on referring GBV survivors to multi-sectoral services; and a psychosocial support training manual to provide in-person and remote support to child GBV survivors.

In 2021, the Sub-sector supported the launch of the regional positive masculinities campaign “A Thousand Ways to Be a Man,” with videos and messaging in English, Portuguese and Spanish. The campaign reached a total of 9,808,176 views through 747,484 social media interactions.

Lessons Learned

While services in some border areas are functional and accessible, GBV responders have limited service coverage in smaller destination cities and hard-to-reach areas, including mining and agro-industrial sites where there is a higher risk of sexual violence and exploitation. There are also not enough shelters or alternative accommodations for women at risk of GBV, which limits their opportunities for recovery or self-sufficiency.

In 2022, the GBV Sub-sector will scale-up activities in countries such as Chile and Mexico, which host significant populations of Venezuelans but where programming and resources for a specialized GBV response have been limited.

Situation

Human trafficking and migrant smuggling are complex phenomena, linked to transnational criminal networks, which can generate a series of human rights violations for refugees and migrants who experience them. Trafficking and smuggling disproportionately affect women, girls and adolescents.

The prolonged impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated Venezuelan refugees’ and migrants’ vulnerability to trafficking and smuggling. Mobility restrictions and border controls have propelled the use of alternative and more dangerous travel routes, irregular border crossings and unofficial means of transportation, which also increased refugees’ and migrants’ dependency on smuggling and trafficking networks and their risks of exploitation. Border controls and movement restrictions also resulted in greater numbers of Venezuelans in an irregular situation, which limited their ability to access documentation and regularization procedures, work legally, or exercise their rights. Limited income-generating prospects and access to social services also increased possibilities of abuse and exploitation.

Response

The Human Trafficking and Smuggling Sub-sector reached almost 5K members of host communities and refugees and migrants from Venezuela with specialized support in 2021, of whom over 4.6K were members of host communities in Peru, reached through activities such as trainings with the authorities responsible for preventing and responding to trafficking and smuggling as well as through direct assistance to victims of trafficking or refugees and migrants at risk of trafficking.

At the regional level, the Sub-sector focused on the four pillars of prevention, protection, prosecution and partnership. In terms of protection, the Sub-sector implemented a Regional Assistance Mechanism through which assistance was provided to 33 Venezuelans who exhibited signs of being possible trafficking victims and 22 Venezuelans who had experienced violence, abuse and/or exploitation. On prosecution, the Sub-sector collaborated with multiple UN agencies to create a mechanism for information exchange and specialized analysis between experts in criminal justice, Ombudspersons’ Offices and civil society organizations regarding challenges in prosecution of charges in trafficking and smuggling cases, with a gender perspective. On partnership, the Sub-sector collaborated intersectorally with the Protection, Humanitarian Transportation and Integration Sectors, on events such as a meeting with the Special Rapporteur on Human Trafficking, in which 21 civil society organizations also participated (representing Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay). Finally, for prevention, the Sub-sector designed a communications campaign on smuggling and trafficking, with key messages in Spanish, English and Portuguese, which will be launched in 2022. 

Lessons Learned

Underfunding resulted in limitations on the response and affected the ability to have data with which to drive evidence-based practices. For 2022, the Regional Human Trafficking and Smuggling Sub-sector plans to enhance information exchange with national and sub-regional platforms, including through field visits to better understand the country dynamics and challenges in the region, and continue the established good practice of collaborating across sectors at the regional level. 

Situation

In 2021, shelter continued to be among the top three needs of refugees and migrants from Venezuela as identified in multiple R4V needs assessments, including those conducted in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and the Southern Cone. COVID-19 restrictions and requirements created ongoing operational challenges for the response. Nevertheless, shelter partners increased their operational capacity to enable the reopening of temporary collective shelters by adapting and implementing Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures, including physical distancing. For example, in Ecuador, only 2 out of 29 Temporary Collective Shelters remained fully closed in 2021 after closing in 2020. Despite this improvement, the capacity to address the most urgent shelter needs of refugees and migrants from Venezuela in transit remained a significant challenge. The pandemic continued to impact refugee and migrant households’ capacities to earn an income to cover their rental costs, and the lack of affordable rental housing in the market, also for members of host communities, was identified as a major barrier to adequate shelter in countries such as Chile and Brazil. The number of refugees and migrants from Venezuela living in informal and spontaneous settlements without access to basic services increased during 2021, also resulting in higher risks for eviction, affecting particularly the indigenous people in Colombia, Brazil and Guyana, in territories bordering Venezuela.

Response

In 2021, shelter activities reached 264,170 refugees and migrants and members of host communities (55% of those targeted) in 15 countries through the work of 33 organizations and 80 implementing partners. Colombia and Ecuador reported the highest numbers of Venezuelans receiving shelter-related assistance, with rental support programmes providing cash and voucher assistance (CVA) as the main modality and activity carried out by sector partners. The trend towards providing rental assistance in the form of CVA expanded throughout the region, with rental programming reported as the key shelter solution implemented to tackle evictions while also supporting refugees’ and migrants´ access to and choices of longer-term individual shelter solutions. In 2021, settlement interventions also increased across the region, particularly in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, commonly framed under the area-based  approach, through the implementation of community infrastructure and the support of governance structures that benefit both refugees and migrants and residents of local host communities. The Regional Shelter Sector supported this process by developing and implementing guidelines for the management of collective shelter solutions as part of capacity-building efforts.

Lessons Learned

Inter-sectoral collaboration was an important element of shelter activities in 2021, to be expanded upon in 2022. In 2022, the Regional Shelter Sector will focus on raising awareness of the importance of access to adequate housing through the implementation of campaigns and the development of tools to mainstream access to shelter in relation to protection, housing, land and property, health, integration and WASH considerations, among others. This will imply a particular focus on rental market-based programming to better inform shelter responses and to link to exit strategies from collective emergency shelters while seeking more durable solutions and integration for refugees and migrants.

Situation

A total of 4.1 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela and members of host communities were in need of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in 2021.  Lack of WASH products and services can lead to public health concerns and outbreaks of disease and vector-borne illnesses, increase vulnerabilities including to gender-based violence (GBV), and affect human dignity.

A 2021 by R4V partners indicated a need to strengthen investment and technical capacity to increase coverage and quality of WASH services. Key needs for Venezuelan refugees and migrants and host communities included: 1) facilitating the operation and maintenance of existing WASH systems, going beyond the tendency to inaugurate new infrastructure; 2) integrating WASH rights into municipal plans and budgets in a coordinated manner between donors, service providers and host country authorities; and 3)  having a territorial rather than a demographic focus, to avoid doing harm and to contribute to social cohesion between refugees, migrants and host communities.

Response

The WASH response, implemented by 47 appealing partners and 55 implementing partners in 13 countries, benefited 642,078 refugees, migrants and members of host communities, representing 58% of the 1.1 million target. Designated funding needs for the sector were only 19% met, which limited the scope of activities. Colombia reported the greatest number of people reached, followed by Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. Response priorities included provision of potable water; sanitation and waste management services that are inclusive of gender, age and disability; hygiene and menstrual hygiene services integrating the ‘Hand Hygiene for All’ global initiative; and COVID-19 prevention, including capacity and supply support to institutions. The sector also focused on prevention of other public health risks in addition to COVID-19 and provided support for the safe return to schools.

With changes in transit routes came the emergence of new hotspots for WASH needs (including Necocli along the Colombia/Panama border; Region 1 along the Guyana/Venezuela border; and Pacaraima along the Brazil/Venezuela border). The sector adapted to provide more agile and mobile WASH services to meet the demands of people in transit, including in temporary shelters.

The Regional WASH Sector worked to ensure intersectoral coordination with the Food Security, Health, and Education Sectors, and the Communication with Communities Working Group, particularly on the safe return to school. Two high-level events were organized focusing on the humanitarian-development nexus and WASH gaps for refugees and migrants in the context of the safe return to school.

Lessons Learned

The WASH policy review suggested that WASH needs are perceived more as a consequence of or linked to access to health, education and shelter services, instead of as a priority service in itself. This has a significant impact on public governance and investments. This also highlights the importance of intersectoral coordination, which will remain a focus in 2022.

An information management system integrating WASH needs within identified population movements and overlaying maps of service coverage in communities and institutions would help to ensure limited funding is invested strategically, to address WASH gaps.

Situation

During 2021, Venezuelan refugees and migrants faced reduced income and livelihoods due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and their overrepresentation in the informal sector and low rates of inclusion in government-led social protection mechanisms. Lack of income among refugee and migrant households continued to hinder access to basic goods and services, including food, shelter, and healthcare. It is also associated with protection-related risks, including gender-based violence (GBV), evictions, and negative coping mechanisms. In 2021, some host countries introduced mechanisms to support Venezuelans’ socioeconomic integration with impacts on cash and voucher assistance (CVA). For example, Colombia initiated its Temporary Protection Status (TPS) that is expected to facilitate access to formal employment, public services, and social protection, including social cash transfers. 

Response

In 2021, CVA accounted for 42% of all people reached by the R4V response: a total of approximately 1.3 million refugees, migrants and members of affected host communities received cash and voucher assistance across 17 countries through 53 organizations. Colombia had the largest number of people reached, followed by Peru and Ecuador. Cash transfers, in particular multipurpose cash (MPC), were identified by refugees and migrants as a preferred modality of assistance, including in the Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) conducted in Colombia. CVA was also recognized as one of the most flexible/adaptable assistance modalities throughout the pandemic.

Roughly half of the CVA (49%) distributed in 2021 corresponded to MPC, while the other half (51%) was distributed as sectoral CVA. Food Security was the predominant sector using CVA as an assistance modality, with over 50% of the sector’s assistance cash-based. Other sectors using cash transfers included Integration, Shelter and Protection, and to a lesser extent Health, WASH, Education and Humanitarian Transportation.

The Regional Cash Working Group (RCWG) held regular coordination and technical discussion meetings; engaged with and supported national and sub-regional CWGs; worked with regional sector leads to support cash activities; and collaborated closely with the R4V Regional Platform (including to improve the CVA dashboard). It also promoted cross-fertilization and learning on regional priorities, such as by organizing an event on the linkages between CVA and social protection and supporting the dissemination of relevant information on Venezuelans and cash transfers. In September 2021 the RCWG held elections to renew its leadership.

Lessons Learned

One of the main challenges during 2021 related to the intersection between humanitarian activities and longer-term integration, which grows in importance over time for the Venezuela response. This created a more prominent need for national CWGs to coordinate with the authorities regarding linkages between CVA and government-led social protection programmes. Another challenge was the insufficient funding received for multipurpose cash (MPC), which was just 18% of the request. Lastly, CVA also faced challenges regarding providing unaccompanied minors with financial assistance. To address these issues, the RCWG will coordinate with regional partners, national CWGs, sectors and the R4V Platform in capacity-building, support and advocacy.

Situation

R4V estimates that women and girls make up almost 52% of refugees and migrants from Venezuela in LAC. With the increasing feminization of human mobility, a growing number of refugee and migrant women and girls are affected by discrimination, gender-based violence (GBV), early unions, human trafficking (especially for sexual exploitation), unemployment and poverty. They also face greater barriers to accessing rights and services, including healthcare, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unaccompanied or separated girls, including LGBTQI+ children,exposed to unique risks.

The rate of GBV increased significantly during the pandemic. Some studies indicate that the rate of GBV among refugee and migrant women, transgender women and girls reached 50% in some destination countries, including sexual violence, domestic violence, and survival sex. According to a study developed by R4V partners in seven countries (soon to be published), 60% of participating refugee and migrant women from Venezuela felt at risk of GBV in transit, and 39% reported that they continued to feel unsafe in the host community. 60% of women were not aware of services available for GBV survivors.

The sectors with the greatest loss of employment during the COVID-19 pandemic were sectors where women historically have been overrepresented, particularly refugee and migrant women. At the same time, there has been a significant increase in unpaid domestic work.

Response

At the regional level, the Gender Working Group worked to ensure a gender-sensitive response and to effectively address the differentiated impact of human mobility on refugee and migrant women and girls from Venezuela. In 2021, the Working Group led the implementation of the Gender with Age Marker (GAM) for the development of the RMRP 2022. This was done through the design and preparation of and trainings in Spanish and English on how to apply the GAM.

Projects submitted by R4V partners have shown an increasing commitment to integrating gender and age in their activities and recognizing that equal rights for men and women are a pre-condition for fulfilling the principles of leave no one behind and do no harm. In the RMRP 2021, 80 per cent of R4V partners incorporated gender equality measures in their planning; for the RMRP 2022, this reached 92 per cent.

The Working Group also provided technical guidance on activities related to gender and the R4V response, including inputs to a to strengthen GBV prevention, risk mitigation and response in seven countries (Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela); support to the Protection Sector of Argentina for a two-day training for more than 20 R4V partners on accompaniment of GBV survivors; and support to the GBV Sub-sector in Colombia.  

Lessons Learned

To strengthen the gender-differentiated R4V response, in 2022 the Working Group will work to dedicated to providing technical support and to accompany partners in all 17 RMRP countries on a permanent basis

Other vital needs include engaging women´s organizations more substantively in the response, and addressing issues such as the overload of unpaid care tasks for refugee and migrant women.

Situation            

In the planning of the RMRP 2021, efforts were redoubled to integrate environmental considerations into project design. Thanks to easier access to tools and technical advice, sectors have shown increased enthusiasm for incorporating an environmental perspective to further their objectives. Additionally, COVID-19 and the associated biosafety measures made it necessary for many R4V partners to adapt their modus operandi. This has not only challenged project planners to think about the associated additional waste and how to manage it (e.g. in the area of food distribution) but also increased awareness of other novel approaches that could be implemented and at the same time benefit the environment.

Response

According to a self-assessment exercise for the RMRP 2022, Shelter, WASH and Food Security were the sectors with the highest rates of inclusion of environmental considerations in project planning in the region (over 70% per sector). Environmental criteria were already an integrated part of planning processes in these sectors. Additionally, there were an increasing number of environmentally friendly alternatives available to respond to certain needs (e.g. solar lamps for family use or public spaces).

The integration of environmental considerations was more novel for the Integration Sector and the Cash Working Group, which had the lowest rates of inclusion (50% each). In response, in Brazil and Colombia, pilot projects were implemented to enable the integration of refugees and migrants into Green Jobs to strengthen more sustainable and innovative business models. Meanwhile, lockdown and social distancing measures advanced digitalization and simplification of steps in the distribution of multipurpose cash and reduced the use of paper and mobilization of partners and beneficiaries, which consequently mitigated the environmental impact of Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA).

These new experiences and lessons, from the COVID-19 adaptation process, were incorporated into thematic guidance and environmental mainstreaming tools, such as the Cash & Environment Checklist, developed in Colombia. This and other similar tools for other sectors to mainstream environmental considerations in humanitarian action were shared on the R4V Key Resources Website and presented in webinars on national, regional and global levels. These tools will help to respond to the increasing number of donors establishing environmental safeguards and requirements to give access to financing.

Lessons Learned

Despite the strong interest of R4V partners on climate change and environmental issues, gaps and challenges remain. For some partners, environmental mainstreaming and climate action still represent a new approach. Raising awareness on their importance and potential will therefore continue to be a priority in 2022. Few partners have access to specialized in-house knowledge or can afford external technical expertise to proactively incorporate environmental considerations into programming. In most cases, partners must rely on available general guidance to mainstream environmental impact. Therefore, improved access to context-adapted planning tools and technical advice will be an important for inclusion of environmental considerations in project planning throughout 2022, especially as donor requirements have increased.

Situation

The pandemic and its consequences presented more risks for sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) at the same time that the channels for communicating with communities and the spaces for seeking support and reporting misconduct have been limited by the remote nature of many interventions.

The results of a mapping conducted in July 2021 highlighted important gaps and good practices in the region. R4V partners participating in the exercise reported that 30% of organizations did not have the minimum organizational structures to deal with SEA (a policy addressing SEA and complaint handling procedures); 50% were not aware of whether there was a protection against sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) Focal Point within their organization; 80% reported being unaware of any existing inter-agency referral pathways for victim assistance; while 56% reported having produced awareness-raising material for staff and communities.

PSEA remains a core commitment of the R4V response. This means that all partners must commit to mainstreaming prevention, risk mitigation, and response activities across their sectoral responses and ensure they deliver assistance that is safe, relevant, and timely. This will ultimately help all actors in fulfilling their mandate, and jointly promoting the safety, dignity, and wellbeing of refugees and migrants from Venezuela.

Response

In 2021, the Regional Platform established the R4V PSEA collective response supported by a Community of Practice (CoP) that serves as a space for advocacy, knowledge sharing, network building, and technical assistance to national and sub-regional platforms in the implementation of actions to tackle SEA. Among its main achievements, was the completion of the mapping of interagency PSEA initiatives in July 2021, which is the basis for further R4V PSEA efforts in 2022. Interagency PSEA protocols were identified in Colombia and Ecuador and are under development in Chile and Brazil, while Inter-agency Community-Based Complaints Mechanisms (CBCM) were identified in Colombia.

Furthermore, the PSEA CoP organized best practice webinars and developed inter-agency materials, such as the standard R4V PSEA Training Module and Facilitation Guide. The CoP also produced a Risk Assessment methodology which will be pilot tested in 2022.

The CoP has worked to embed PSEA considerations into platform tools and processes, particularly the RMRP planning. The RMRP 2022 Planning Instructions included PSEA as a priority, cross-cutting issue. Guidance Notes covered in greater depth how to integrate PSEA into RMRP activities.

Lessons Learned

To address gaps and build on good practices identified in the 2021 mapping exercise, moving forward the CoP will work to promote greater collective, operational PSEA activities at the country level through a network of Focal Points. It will continue to advance PSEA strategic priorities, including strengthening partners’ capacity to undertake SEA prevention (risk assessments, training, internal policies and procedures); SEA response (community-based complaint mechanisms and victim’s assistance services); and overall leadership and accountability.

Situation

In the context of continued COVID-19 restrictions and the gradual reopening that characterized 2021, providing refugees and migrants with accurate information on available services, safe transit routes and where to seek help in case of emergencies remained a priority for Communication with Communities (CwC). In addition, as vaccination programmes were implemented across the region, information on vaccine access for refugees and migrants was one of the main concerns relating to access to information.

Community engagement and participation efforts were complicated by the restrictions in place, while the need to actively involve and hear from refugees and migrants continued to be a priority to implement an R4V response that promoted accountability to affected populations (AAP). Understanding community priorities, getting feedback on services provided and uncovering gaps in needs have been pivotal for all sectors and partners of the R4V Platform, which required safe and culturally appropriate channels to be deployed in order to engage refugees and migrants in such conversations.

Response

Since 2021, AAP and CwC focal points for R4V at the regional level have coordinated jointly to encourage collective approaches and initiatives focusing on community engagement in an integrated manner, under the three operational pillars of AAP: communication with communities, participation and complaints and feedback mechanisms (CFMs).

To bridge information gaps, the AAP/CwC Regional Working Group prepared materials for populations in transit, including messaging on safety and protection and health advice, in multiple formats to be distributed across digital and offline channels.

Information materials about vaccines were produced on vaccine safety and to highlight the importance to get the COVID-19 vaccine to mitigate the risk of developing severe illness.

The Working Group also to promote the use of the U-report Uniendo Voces. The digital platform is used in Brazil, Ecuador and Bolivia and allows adolescents and young adults to collect information and participate in surveys to give their views on important topics.

To take stock of current practices to engage the affected population in the response, a regional mapping was conducted to understand the capacities, challenges and opportunities that R4V platform partners have been experiencing in the area of AAP. The mapping highlighted the need for increased coordination on the topic. As a result, an AAP network was created with focal points in national and sub-regional platforms who will work together to advance the accountability agenda in R4V.

Lessons Learned        

R4V partners expressed the need for increased support for AAP efforts, from building capacities to enhanced coordination in this transversal area.

The continuous need for information also shows the necessity to constantly update existing materials, ensuring they stay relevant to new needs and a changing context. Coordination at the local level is key to ensure quality and consistent information is distributed to refugees, migrants and host communities.

Situation and Response

During 2021, the Regional Communications Working Group strengthened its efforts in the following thematic areas:

Dissemination of messages against xenophobia and in support of integration for refugees and migrants.

Following the R4V Platform’s commitment to advocate against the discrimination and stigmatization of refugees and migrants, the One Step Closer regional campaign launched its second phase in April 2021 with social media materials, a panel on local integration, and a social experiment to show the challenges faced by refugee and migrant children in their new communities. The campaign had over 1M social media interactions and more than 10M user views.

To reach new audiences, between November and December, the Communications Working Group developed three communication products together with Pictoline, one of the most renowned content creators in Latin America. The content was shared on Pictoline’s social networks, from which it reached more than 5.8M users.

Improving the R4V Platform’s visibility in media and social networks and positioning R4V as a reference on Venezuelan refugees and migrants in the region.

Efforts focused on increasing content production and improving its effectiveness by targeting specific audiences. Some achievements include:

• The launch of R4V’s Twitter account @Plataforma_R4V in September, which reached more than 2,000 organic followers and almost 700K impressions.
• More than 300 videos (in English, Spanish and Portuguese) uploaded to R4V’s YouTube account, produced by multiple sectors and working groups of the Regional, National and Sub-regional Platforms.
• Over 7,900 views of the R4V biweekly newsletter.
• Launch of the RMRP 2022 with over 50 communication and advocacy products, including social cards, GIFs, videos, and a dedicated website. Through a joint global press release, 272 pieces of coverage were generated in 39 countries.

Increasing the number of coordinated initiatives with members of the working group.

In December 2021, the R4V Platform and the LAC-RMD Coalition co-produced and launched a three-chapter miniseries focused on civil society organizations’ activities in the areas of gender, childhood, socioeconomic and cultural integration in three countries: Colombia, Peru, and Panama. The videos are available in English and Spanish.

Lessons Learned

As in previous years, achieving regular engagement from all group members was a challenge. In 2022, the Regional Communication Working Group will meet monthly to improve coordination. Additionally, the Working Group will regularly produce R4V co-branded communication materials involving all partners to promote their commitment.

Working with content creators has proven to be an effective way to reach new audiences. For this reason, the Working Group will focus on developing more products with content creators to generate higher impact at a lower cost.

Twitter has also shown to be an essential tool for visibility of the R4V. The Working Group will carry out an analysis of its impact and formulate best practices to ramp up its reach for it to become R4V’s primary public communications channel.