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Current Requirements (US$)$1.72 billion
Analysis of the context, crisis and needs
In 2022, refugees and migrants from Venezuela continued to leave their home country in need of humanitarian assistance, protection and socioeconomic inclusion. By the end of 2022, there will be an estimated 6.3 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela hosted across 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
According to the Refugee and Migrant Needs Analysis — conducted by the Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V) and published in October 2022 — the spiraling costs of living, fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of documentation, the widespread irregular status of refugees and migrants, and very high unemployment rates have all increased the vulnerability of refugees and migrants from Venezuela and undermined the efforts made in previous years to rebuild their lives and integrate in host societies across the region. This has led to 73.4 per cent of refugees and migrants needing assistance under the regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP).
Tapachula, Mexico
Dennys, Manuel and their family opened Los Vennez in Tapachula several years ago. They are now famous in the city for introducing Venezuelan cuisine to the community.
RV4/Diego Bravo RamírezThe increased vulnerability of refugees and migrants from Venezuela has been compounded by the consequences of a slow and unequal post-COVID-19 economic recovery and spiralling costs of living in the LAC region. The impact on the living conditions, security, dignity and health of refugees and migrants and their host communities has been extreme. Throughout 2022, an increase in the use of dangerous irregular routes and informal border crossings was observed, particularly due to a lack of documentation, increased visa controls, irregular status, and lack of livelihoods or prospects for socioeconomic integration. This further exposed refugees and migrants to human trafficking risks, as well as to exploitation and abuse at the hands of smugglers, traffickers and other criminal networks.
In parallel, most refugees and migrants from Venezuela have spent several years in their host countries. As a result, their needs surpass immediate life-saving interventions, and they include access to asylum, to regularization and to social protection systems, as well as longer-term protection, self-reliance and socioeconomic integration. In response to these challenges, some host governments are making efforts to regularize refugees and migrants from Venezuela in their territories and creating opportunities for integration.
In host countries, factors such as widespread irregularity, loss of or competition for livelihoods opportunities, limited education enrolment opportunities and lack of affordable housing have contributed to increased social tensions and tested the levels of solidarity with refugees and migrants, at times resulting in incidents of xenophobia, discrimination and violence.
Cúcuta, Colombia
Andrea Victoria González, 17, in front of her house. She was in her final year of high school when her family was forced to flee Venezuela. After many setbacks to her education, Andrea hopes to finally take Colombia’s college entrance exam.
UNCHR/Hélèna CauxProjected situation in 2023 and beyond
Increases in onward movements of refugees and migrants, especially of those previously settled in host communities, are expected to further grow in 2023. They will be met by an ongoing moderate outflow of Venezuelans from their home country, whose political, socioeconomic and human rights situation has rendered them more vulnerable than their fellow nationals who left the country in previous years.
New migratory-control mechanisms enacted by various countries to limit the irregular flow of refugees and migrants, especially northward towards the United States since October 2022, are contributing to the complex and multidimensional movements and corresponding response requirements. These controls have led to new operational realities, requiring refugees and migrants in affected countries to consider returning to previous host countries (subject to available legal re-admission opportunities) or to their country of origin, where the situation is deemed as not conducive to returns, according to R4V response actors.
Venezuela Regional
Strategic objectives and sectoral priorities
The new multi-year RMRP 2023-24 will bring together an unparalleled number of 228 appealing partners (an 18.7 per cent increase from 192 in 2022), including 208 civil-society actors (46 of which are refugee- and migrant-led organizations), to implement 16,556 activities to assist the situation of 3.4 million refugees and migrants and affected host-community members. The corresponding financial requirements of the 228 partners amounts to US$1.71 billion. Detailed information on each activity’s appealing organization, geographic and thematic focus, targeted individuals (disaggregated by age/gender/population group) and financial requirements, as well as updated information on its implementation status, will be available on the Data Page of R4V.info and on the R4V Humanitarian Data Exchange. This underscores the common commitment towards transparency and accountability of R4V partners.
The response is organized across nine thematic sectors (Education, Food Security, Health, Humanitarian Transportation, Integration, Nutrition, Protection, Shelter and WASH) and three sub-sectors of the Protection Sector (Gender-Based Violence, Child Protection, and Human Trafficking & Smuggling). The RMRP 2023-24 also incorporates cross-cutting modalities (such as cash and voucher assistance) and cross-cutting themes including gender, the environment, communication with communities, accountability to affected populations, centrality of protection, and the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse to ensure that these considerations are incorporated in all response activities.
Nexus in the Response
As the situation of refugees and migrants from Venezuela has evolved over the past years, the need to enhance the complementarity between humanitarian and development interventions for both refugees and migrants from Venezuela and their host communities has gradually increased. The extended timeframe of the RMRP, from one to two years, seeks to improve the medium/longer-term aspect of the response without losing track of the significant humanitarian needs on the ground. To ensure longer-lasting results, the concept of Humanitarian-Development Nexus (HDN) was considered throughout the planning processes, through the inclusion of initiatives which combine direct assistance and a more sustainable impact. The RMRP strives for a broader engagement of different stakeholders, including governments, international financial institutions, and private sector partnerships. The participation of refugees and migrants from Venezuela as well as affected host communities is also central to HDN. To ensure a strategic approach through all phases of the response, partners additionally aim to improve inter-sectoral complementarity and joint programming, with the intention to ensure a wider scope and continuity of the overall response.
References
- Updated population statistics, reported by host countries and compiled by R4V are available at: https://www.r4v.info/en/refugeeandmigrants
- See hereto: inter alia, R4V Central America, Mexico and Colombia: R4V Special Situation Report (June Update) and R4V Movements Report: Second Quarter 2022
- See hereto the R4V Planning Assumptions and Scenarios dashboard, based on a survey with 227 respondents across the 17 R4V countries.
- See hereto the R4V Special Sitrep on the new Migration Process for Venezuela.
- In Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica, the R4V response will also address the situation of 72.2K others in-transit (beyond Venezuelans and affected host communities).